Hours after the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), an alliance partner of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), passed a resolution on BJP Tamil Nadu chief K Annamalai saying he lacked "political maturity”, Annamalai has reacted to the development. On Tuesday, June 13, Annamalai issued a statement titled ‘Idhu dhaan en arasiyal paathai’ (‘This is my political path’). In the statement, he said that his recent interview with the Times of India (ToI) — in which he described J Jayalalithaa’s term as Chief Minister from 1991 to 1996 as one of the worst periods for Tamil Nadu in terms of corruption — was wrongly understood by former Tamil Nadu ministers and other AIADMK leaders who have since spoken out against him.
In his statement, Annamalai reiterated that corruption is one of the major issues in Tamil Nadu. “The welfare schemes that were supposed to reach every citizen of the state for so many years were exploited by the politicians. Eventually, those schemes did not reach the public in full. Instead of creating welfare schemes for the people, the schemes are created with the sole aim of benefiting only a handful of people,” he alleged.
In his ToI interview, Annamalai was questioned about his claims to expose corruption within all political parties, including the AIADMK. In response, he had stated, "I am not taking any party names, but we will question any government that swindled the public exchequer." He attributed Tamil Nadu's reputation as one of the most corrupt states in the country to multiple administrations and not just the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government. These remarks drew strong backlash from AIADMK leaders. District secretaries of AIADMK passed a unanimous three-page resolution on Annamalai in Madurai on Tuesday, criticising him for publicly discussing Jayalalithaa without displaying “political maturity” and labelling his behaviour as "irresponsible."
In his statement, Annamalai further said, “In all these years, poor people haven’t progressed even a single step from their previous [socioeconomic] position. Successive ruling parties have governed the state with the idea of exploiting poor people for the next five years by promising freebies in the election manifesto and cash during elections. They want to keep poor people stuck in a subservient position, seeking alms from the government. I hate this kind of politics.”
Earlier, former Minister and senior AIADMK leader D Jayakumar had also condemned Annamalai’s remarks and emphasised that AIADMK workers wished to see Prime Minister Narendra Modi re-elected in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. However, Annamalai's behaviour implied a lack of interest in continuing the alliance between AIADMK and BJP and ensuring Modi's return as Prime Minister, said Jayakumar.
In his statement, Annamalai said, “I entered politics as I was inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his actions.” He added that he wanted to continue working in politics for the welfare of the people of Tamil Nadu in an honest way, “the same way in which PM Modi constantly works for the betterment of poor people.” “My only desire and ambition is to change the trend of Tamil Nadu being the capital of corruption, and provide corruption-free governance,” he further added.
He also said that he didn’t need anyone to teach him about how to treat alliance partners and their leaders. “I am well aware of the dharma (principles) of alliance. I have only stated what happened in the political history of Tamil Nadu,” Annamaial said.
The BJP Tamil Nadu chief also said, “If anyone thinks that I have said anything untrue in my interview with ToI, if the error is pointed out and clarified, then I would not hesitate to accept it. At the same time, just because we are in an alliance, it is inappropriate to expect us to only say things as per the alliance partner’s wishes.”
Referring to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids on Tuesday at Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister V Senthil Balaji’s office at the state Secretariat, Annamalai said, “The corruption in Tamil Nadu politics has brought great disgrace to the state. Such incidents never happened in any other state. I want to change this political trend of deeply entrenched corruption.”