Not admonished, only advised, claims Tamilisai after video of Amit Shah wagging finger goes viral

CHENNAI: A day after the video of senior BJP leader Amit Shah 'scolding' her in public apparently over factional clash with Tamil Nadu BJP unit president K Annamalai went viral, former State president and Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Thursday claimed that Shah did not admonish her as widely believed but only advised her to carry on political work intensively.

Dismissing speculations that led to a controversy here, the former Governor said, "Yesterday as I met Home Minister Amit Shah in Andhra Pradesh for the first time after the Lok Sabha elections. He called me to ask about post poll follow up and the challenges faced. As I was elaborating, due to paucity of time with utmost concern he advised to carry out the political and constituency work intensively which was reassuring. This is to clarify all unwarranted speculations around."

Despite the clarification, the heated discussion over the way in which Shah spoke to Tamilisai has refused to die down, as his body language made it evident that he was displeased with the factional feud that broke out in the Tamil Nadu unit after the Lok Sabha election.

The incident happened during the swearing-in ceremony of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday.

Following this, the Tirunelveli district unit of the Nadar Mahajana Sangam condemned Shah and Annamalai for allegedly humiliating Tamilisai. Posters condemning Shah and Annamalai mushroomed in many places, including Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, and Kanniyakumari, which have a large Nadar population.

Various leaders of opposition parties and Dravidian majors also lashed out at Shah, alleging that the BJP has denigrated Tamil Nadu, the Tamil language and a Tamil woman.