Revanth singing family tune to protect chair, Tamil Nadu BJP chief Annamalai
HYDERABAD: Recalling that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy called Prime Minister Narendra Modi ‘bade bhai’ and praised the Gujarat model in March, Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai alleged that the TPCC chief was now singing the Gandhi parivar’s tune so that he would be retained as the chief minister after June 4.
Referring to the film ‘Aparichitudu’ [Anniyan in Tamil], Annamalai quipped: “Before Model Code of Conduct, Revanth garu was Ambi [Ramu in the Telugu version], the good guy. … Now, he is the night guy.”
Speaking to a TNIE team here, Annamalai, who has been campaigning for the BJP in Telangana, expressed confidence that his party would sweep the state in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. “We will also win in Hyderabad. Muslim mothers and sisters will also vote for us. They have voted for the BJP in UP,” he asserted.
Asked about the allegation of Opposition parties that the BJP was trying to scrap reservations in the country, Annamalai claimed that it was the Congress that treated the Constitution like a toy to protect its power. Referring to the 39th amendment of the Constitution, he pointed out that after the Allahabad HC found the then PM Indira Gandhi guilty of electoral malpractices in June 1975, a Bill was brought in Lok Sabha on August 7 to ensure that a PM’s election cannot be questioned.
“August 8, she takes it to Rajya Sabha. Seventeen Congress Legislative Assemblies endorse the change on August 9. Next day is Sunday, the President signs it in the morning. Government offices are open, the government printing press publishes this in the evening. Is this preserving the Constitution?”
On the Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu, Annamalai said the party went to the polls with a formidable alliance. Asked about the seemingly unrealistic expectations amongst some BJP supporters, Annamalai said, “Everybody has got a viewpoint, a supporter, a karyakarta… Politics does not happen in one step, it happens by increment. The eventual goal is coming to power in Tamil Nadu in 2026.”
“The results will be good in the sense that the vote share might go up six-seven times from what has previously been attributed to the BJP. And MPs will go from the BJP and NDA to Parliament. Step 2 is to reach out to all areas where the party is not there now and show the people of TN that we have an alternative ideology,” Annamalai said, and asserted that TN was getting ready for a post-Dravidian era of politics.
Asked about his remarks comparing Tamil Brahmins to Jews in Hitler’s Germany, Annamalai said that Brahmins were physically targeted and alleged that in any DMK meeting in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, the Brahmin community was vilified and painted as villains. “This is what Hitler did. Then the exodus of Tamil Brahmins started as they felt insecure. Now it is no longer physical, but verbal… For instance, top DMK leaders speak in their dialect if they want to make fun of Tamil Brahmins. So my comparison is apt.”
