Ahead of polls, misunderstandings aplenty

Are remarks by certain BJP leaders faltering the party’s friendship with AIADMK?

As the AIADMK and the BJP sharpen their swords to face the 2021 Assembly election together, remarks by certain leaders of the national party are causing discomfort within the alliance.

BJP State vice-president K. Annamalai, particularly, has been making remarks that have not gone down well among a section of AIADMK leaders.

While the AIADMK felt such comments could be avoided, Mr. Annamalai sought to defend them as “general political remarks”.

‘Stolen money’

Mr. Annamalai recently said that the Tamil Nadu government was giving money, “stolen” from the people, back to them as ₹2,000. The remarks were made against the backdrop of Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami announcing a cash gift of ₹2,500 for rice ration cardholders for Pongal.

This invited a sharp reaction from Law Minister C. Ve. Shanmugam, who questioned the ₹6,000 aid offered by the Centre to the farmers.

“If he [Annamalai] is being so immature, not knowing what to speak in public, what do I have to say? If he is a novice, what can we do?” said AIADMK deputy coordinator K.P. Munusamy.

He wondered how the BJP leader did not even know the difference between personal and government funds.

Mr. Annamalai had also said that some politicians were greeting “looking at the tyres”, in an ostensible reference to AIADMK leaders bowing before former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s vehicle.

To this, Mr. Munusamy said, “What was he earlier? A police officer. Would he not salute his superiors? What we did was out of respect and devotion to our leader.” He, however, felt such comments by second-line leaders would not affect the relationship between the two parties.

Mr. Annamalai told The Hindu that the general public would understand his comments.

“Basically, the AIADMK and the BJP are different parties. Since many principles of both parties are similar to each other, we are in an alliance,” he said.

He said he was a responsible leader of a national party, with duties of his own. “I said politics had become very corrupt in Tamil Nadu. What is wrong in it? My comments have been taken out of context. I have been continuously saying that there is something wrong in politics, and that youngsters should come.”

On the Pongal gift, the former IPS officer said: “My clarification is that of course we all welcome the ₹2,500 cash gift for Pongal. In times of COVID-19, money should be put in the people’s hands. But I have always been against spending ₹2,000 for a vote. My party has also been against it.”

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