All is well with AIADMK, indicates Annamalai after tiff over remark

K Annamalai, president of Tamil Nadu BJP, stated on Wednesday that the alliance with AIADMK was ongoing and emphasised his “utmost respect” for the late stalwart of that party, J Jayalalithaa.

Amid strains in relations between the two parties due to Annamalai’s alleged remarks about Jayalalithaa in a section of the media, the BJP leader stated that his interview with a daily newspaper was “misinterpreted” by some AIADMK leaders.

“The alliance is intact… it has been decided at multiple levels,” he said at a press conference. Throughout, he has been opposed to corruption and will continue to be so, he added.

Watch: Will BJP, AIADMK patch up or break up? Annamalai’s remark imperils alliance

“I continue to fight against corruption. I stated that Tamil Nadu is number one in corruption and we must change that. At the same time, I have spoken at various forums about Amma Jayalalithaa. I hold Madam Jayalalithaa in the highest regard. There are documented videos where I have referred to her as one of the best administrators of Tamil Nadu, albeit in a different context,” he told PTI.

Corruption charges

He mentioned that he referred to Tamil Nadu as a corrupt state “because I mean it” and cited the Income Tax searches at the Secretariat in 2016 when AIADMK was in power, as well as the recent ED raids at the office of TN Electricity and Excise and Prohibition Minister V Senthil Balaji (DMK) on Tuesday, to support his point.

Earlier, during the press conference, in response to a question about any misunderstandings between the two southern allies, particularly during the visit of Amit Shah earlier this week, he mentioned that the Union Home Minister wished to have a meal with AIADMK general secretary K Palaniswami.

“I only telephoned him (Palaniswami). He is undergoing treatment for a leg issue in Salem. Amit Shah wanted to have a meal with him in Chennai. I am mentioning these things because there are speculations that there was no AIADMK leader in the room (where Shah met celebrities from different fields),” he said.

Annamalai added that the specific meeting with Shah was non-political.

He stated that during his private and public engagements last week, Shah made it clear that the NDA should secure 25 MPs from Tamil Nadu in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

With agency inputs