AIADMK leaders hit back after BJP's Annamalai insults Palaniswami, escalating tensions between the former allies in Tamil Nadu
The effigy burning that began in Thanjavur on Monday spread to places like Kolathur, Ranipet and Pudukottai on Tuesday with AIADMK cadre demanding an apology for denigrating their leader. (Image: X)
Chennai: The ongoing row between the AIADMK and the BJP, erstwhile allies for about 7 years till September 2023, has taken an acrimonious turn after BJP State president K Annamalai took on AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami directly by calling him a ‘frog in the well’ and an ‘ignoramus,’ among other things.
The unsavory remarks made at a meeting in Chennai on Sunday, earned the ire of AIADMK honchos that its second rung leaders started hitting back one after the other since Monday and questioned him on a variety of issues, while lower level functionaries burned Annamalai in effigy for the second consecutive day on Tuesday, besides putting out wall posters some places.
The effigy burning that began in Thanjavur on Monday spread to places like Kolathur, Ranipet and Pudukottai on Tuesday with AIADMK cadre demanding an apology for denigrating their leader. However Annamalai, who is gearing up to leave for London to attend an academic programme, stood firm on his stand and said that there was no question of an apology.
He said that he spoke only in retaliation to the abusive remarks made by the AIADMK leader and that he would not withdraw his comments. He was not one to keep quiet when others attacked him, he said
But top AIADMK leader and former Minister D Jayakumar said Annamalai’s comments lowered the dignity of Palaniswami. Referring to Annamalai’s statement that he would destroy the Dravidian parties, Jayakumar said the AIADMK was a 52-year-old monolith that even M Karunanidhi could not shake in his lifetime.
Now the BJP and DMK were together, Jayakumar said, adding that leaders of both the parties were going abroad at the same time, Chief Minister M K Stalin to the USA and Annamalai to the UK. Mocking Annamalai for saying that his party would field candidates for all the 1,12,000 seats in the local body elections, Jayakumar asked him where he would find the candidates to contest from so many seats.
Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly R B Udhayakumar called Annamalai an ‘octopus’ and a ‘leech’ and advised him to see a psychiatrist as he had gone mad, while AIADMK deputy general secretary, K P Munuswamy, said that the BJP leader was feeling insecure after losing all the seats the party contested in the Lok Sabha elections.
In a statement, Udhayakumar said Annamalai was attacking Palaniswami for calling out BJP’s ‘illicit relationship’ with the DMK and threw a slew of challenges at the BJP State President like daring him to name the beneficiaries who funded his extraordinarily high monthly expenses on house rent, salaries to assistants, vehicle, fuel and so on.
He accused Annamalai of now repeating the same charges that the DMK had been levelling against the AIADMK for long and recalled how he had predicted the AIADMK going under the leadership of somebody else after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Though the AIADMK had been going soft on its opposition to the BJP in the State soon after it broke ties with a view to contesting the Lok Sabha elections on its own, slowly the fight turned intense with leaders of both parties turning more aggressive.
When both party leaders were pulling punches initially, the DMK and other parties even predicted that they might once again patch up and get together after the elections, though there was no need of it as all the 40 seats, including the lone constituency in Puducherry Union Territory, were swept by the rival DMK-led alliance.
The AIADMK turned aggressive in their onslaughts against the BJP when the ruling DMK came under attack for attending the at home tea party at the Raj Bhavan after announcing a boycott of it and then for inviting Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh for unveiling the Rs 100 coin brought out in memory of M Karunanidhi to mark his centenary.
The coin issue came handy for the AIADMK, particularly its general secretary, to accuse the DMK and BJP of a secret pact, to which Annamalai was forced to come out with replies denying any long term relationship between the two parties. He was first forced to reply to the charge made out against his paying homage at the Karunanidhi memorial.
Though Annamalai wriggled out of that controversy saying that Karunanidhi was a five time Chief Minister of the State and there was nothing wrong in being respectful to him, the AIADMK persisted with its allegation of a secret pact between the ruling parties in the State and the Centre, which forced him to spew venom at the BJP meeting on Sunday. Now the AIADMK is hitting back.
The unsavory remarks made at a meeting in Chennai on Sunday, earned the ire of AIADMK honchos that its second rung leaders started hitting back one after the other since Monday and questioned him on a variety of issues, while lower level functionaries burned Annamalai in effigy for the second consecutive day on Tuesday, besides putting out wall posters some places.
The effigy burning that began in Thanjavur on Monday spread to places like Kolathur, Ranipet and Pudukottai on Tuesday with AIADMK cadre demanding an apology for denigrating their leader. However Annamalai, who is gearing up to leave for London to attend an academic programme, stood firm on his stand and said that there was no question of an apology.
He said that he spoke only in retaliation to the abusive remarks made by the AIADMK leader and that he would not withdraw his comments. He was not one to keep quiet when others attacked him, he said
But top AIADMK leader and former Minister D Jayakumar said Annamalai’s comments lowered the dignity of Palaniswami. Referring to Annamalai’s statement that he would destroy the Dravidian parties, Jayakumar said the AIADMK was a 52-year-old monolith that even M Karunanidhi could not shake in his lifetime.
Now the BJP and DMK were together, Jayakumar said, adding that leaders of both the parties were going abroad at the same time, Chief Minister M K Stalin to the USA and Annamalai to the UK. Mocking Annamalai for saying that his party would field candidates for all the 1,12,000 seats in the local body elections, Jayakumar asked him where he would find the candidates to contest from so many seats.
Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly R B Udhayakumar called Annamalai an ‘octopus’ and a ‘leech’ and advised him to see a psychiatrist as he had gone mad, while AIADMK deputy general secretary, K P Munuswamy, said that the BJP leader was feeling insecure after losing all the seats the party contested in the Lok Sabha elections.
In a statement, Udhayakumar said Annamalai was attacking Palaniswami for calling out BJP’s ‘illicit relationship’ with the DMK and threw a slew of challenges at the BJP State President like daring him to name the beneficiaries who funded his extraordinarily high monthly expenses on house rent, salaries to assistants, vehicle, fuel and so on.
He accused Annamalai of now repeating the same charges that the DMK had been levelling against the AIADMK for long and recalled how he had predicted the AIADMK going under the leadership of somebody else after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Though the AIADMK had been going soft on its opposition to the BJP in the State soon after it broke ties with a view to contesting the Lok Sabha elections on its own, slowly the fight turned intense with leaders of both parties turning more aggressive.
When both party leaders were pulling punches initially, the DMK and other parties even predicted that they might once again patch up and get together after the elections, though there was no need of it as all the 40 seats, including the lone constituency in Puducherry Union Territory, were swept by the rival DMK-led alliance.
The AIADMK turned aggressive in their onslaughts against the BJP when the ruling DMK came under attack for attending the at home tea party at the Raj Bhavan after announcing a boycott of it and then for inviting Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh for unveiling the Rs 100 coin brought out in memory of M Karunanidhi to mark his centenary.
The coin issue came handy for the AIADMK, particularly its general secretary, to accuse the DMK and BJP of a secret pact, to which Annamalai was forced to come out with replies denying any long term relationship between the two parties. He was first forced to reply to the charge made out against his paying homage at the Karunanidhi memorial.
Though Annamalai wriggled out of that controversy saying that Karunanidhi was a five time Chief Minister of the State and there was nothing wrong in being respectful to him, the AIADMK persisted with its allegation of a secret pact between the ruling parties in the State and the Centre, which forced him to spew venom at the BJP meeting on Sunday. Now the AIADMK is hitting back.
( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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