Reacting to Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader Dayanidhi Maran’s ‘joker’ remarks against him, Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president K Annamalai hit back at the DMK leader saying that he is ‘useless’ without family’s surname.
Annamalai went on to say that Dayanidhi wouldn’t even get a got job.
“…If you remove the word Maran from Dayanidhi, he will not even get a job. He is totally useless without his family’s surname. But unfortunately, when they know they are losing, DMK will always take recourse to abuse and filth,” he said while also slamming the the ruling DMK for resorting to ugly politics of ‘abuse and filth’.
The BJP Tamil Nadu chief said that the DMK is founded on the language of filth and is one of the ugliest political parties in the country.
“And if you look at DMK’s history their abuse of women, their intolerance for any newcomer and the kind of abusive language they brought into political vocabulary. Nobody in our state has done over the last 70 years. DMK stands for abuse at its worst,” he said.
‘A badge of honour’
Annamalai, a “self-made” man, said that he will adorn the abuses by DMK as a ‘badge of honour’.
“If the DMK is abusing me, I take it as a badge of honour because all of us are self-made people from the ground by virtue of hard work, we are standing in a position trying to serve our people, not like Maran or Stalin or Udhayanidhi.”
The BJP Tamil Nadu chief added that the DMK leaders are in politics “only because of their family initials”.
Annamalai has been fielded against DMK’s Ganapathy P Rajkumar from Coimbatore’s Lok Sabha seat. While Maran is contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Chennai Central.
What was Dayanidhi Maran’s ‘joker’ remark?
Former union minister Dayanidhi Maran had recently dismissed Annamalai as a “joker” and a “lame duck” who was being “overestimating” for his role in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections 2024.
In an interview with India Today, Maran dismissed the challenge posed by Annamalai in the Lok Sabha polls by saying “Who’s that? Oh, the Joker, you are talking about the Joker. Are you overestimating, he is a lame duck.”
He was asked about the “fear of Annamalai” in the political arena and if the BJP Tamil Nadu chief was the rising star of the saffron party.
Maran, however, stood by his remarks even after facing a backlash from the Prime Minister himself.
He reiterated that Annamalai keeps on changing his stance on issues, just like a “chameleon”. Maran also called the BJP leader a “good entertainer” needed in politics.
“First, he was against NEET. Now he supports NEET. He says that he doesn’t know Hindi. Then he now speaks fluent Hindi. He keeps on changing his colours like a Chameleon. He behaves like a joker,” he said.
“So I stand by my stand words. He is a joker. We need people like him. He’s a good entertainer. Please Annamalai, continue,” Maran added.
PM Modi defends Annamalai
While addressing a rally in Coimbatore’s Mettupalayam, Prime Minister Narendra Modi jumped to Annamalai’s defence and said Maran’s remarks reflects the character of the ruling party and its ‘arrogance against the great culture of Tamil Nadu‘.
“DMK is a party that is immersed in the arrogance of power. When a senior leader of DMK was asked about our young leader Annamalai, he said in arrogance ‘Who is he, who is that’ and used insulting words. This arrogance is against Tamil Nadu’s great culture. The people of Tamil Nadu will never like this arrogance,” he said.
All 39 seats in Tamil Nadu will vote in a single phase on April 19 in Lok Sabha polls that will be held in seven phases. Votes will be counted on June 4 .
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Published: 10 Apr 2024, 10:56 PM IST