C Ve Shanmugam says Annamalai unfit to talk about corruption

CHENNAI: Senior AIADMK leader and Rajya Sabha MP C Ve Shanmugam unleashed a scathying attack on state BJP leader K Annamalai for his remark on late chief minister J Jayalalithaa and said the former police officer has “no moral rights” to talk about corruption. He called Annamalai as ‘B’ team of the DMK and executing his personal agenda to favour the ruling party in Tamil Nadu

“Annamalai has no moral rights to talk about corruption. In fact, the BJP’s functionaries are levelling serious corruption charges against Annamalai that he took money from bootleggers, criminals, and scamsters to give them party postings,” Shanmugam told mediaperson before attending the party’s district secretaries’ meeting at party headquarters. The meeting would be chaired by General Secretary of the party Edappadi K Palaniswami and senior party leaders.

Citing the corruption charge against the BJP government in Karnataka, which was routed in the recently held elections, and called it a 40% commission government, Shanmugam said BJP leaders and ministers were arrested on charges of corruption. “Annamalai would be unaware about such incidents as he was not in politics at that time,” he said and ridiculed the BJP state chief for his contribution in the saffron party’s poor show in the Assembly polls.

Recalling the meeting with Amit Shah in the last week of April this year, the former minister said Shah told not once, but twice that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is keen on AIADMK-led NDA alliance in Tamil Nadu. It was the message for Annamalai.

“If he was brave enough, he should have expressed his wish against the alliance in front of the Shah. Why remain silent?” Shanmugam asked and said if BJP has grown in the state, let them go (from the alliance). Who is stopping them?

Echoing the views of party’s official spokesperson D Jayakumar, Shanmugam said that Annamalai is unwilling to see Narendra Modi return to power. “He has a personal agenda that is against the BJP and its political interest. And I am strongly doubting that Annamalai is an agent of the DMK as his activities are favouring the DMK,” he said.

“BJP’s functionaries are levelling serious corruption charges against Annamalai that he took money from bootleggers, criminals, and scamsters to give them party postings. So he is unfit to talk about corruption,” said Shanmugam and recalled the posting given to K Harish, a prime accused in the multi-crore Arirudhra trading scam.

Prominent politicians and leaders, including the present PM Narendra Modi, called on Jayalalithaa at her Poes Garden resilience. She was such a powerful and charismatic leader, said Shanmugam

He also wondered who alerted State Electricity Minister V Senthilbalaji ahead of the IT raids and why he is remaining silent over the assault on IT officials during the raids.