Amit Shah ‘scolds’ Tamilisai over feud with BJP unit chief Annamalai, video sparks outrage, protests in Tamil Nadu

CHENNAI: The simmering factional feud within Tamil Nadu BJP unit between the supporters of former governor Tamilisai Soundararajan and State president K Annamalai snowballed into a larger issue in Tamil Nadu and even other south Indian states after a video of Amit Shah ostensibly admonishing Tamilisai publicly during the swearing-in ceremony of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday, became viral.

After the video sparked a controversy, the Tirunelveli district unit of the Nadar Mahajana Sangam condemned Shah and Annamalai for allegedly humiliating Tamilisai. Soon, posters condemning Shah and Annamalai mushroomed in many places, including Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi and Kanniyakumari, which have a large Nadar population.

Springing in her support on social media, Congress workers in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh and DMK functionaries in Tamil Nadu lashed out at Shah, alleging that the BJP has denigrated Tamil Nadu, the Tamil language and a Tamil woman.

If sources are to be believed, Shah admonished everyone, including former and current presidents of the State BJP unit, telling them in no uncertain terms that no one should share any opinion with the media or on social media regarding the Lok Sabha results.

"The high command received reports from two senior Union Ministers about the activities, working style of Annamalai, and the situation in the party before and after the elections. After receiving a pre-election report from Nirmala Sitharaman and post-election report from Piyush Goyal, the top brass asked for an explanation from Annamalai and strongly criticised his arbitrary and selfish activities," multiple sources in the BJP told DT Next.

"Similarly, after the LS poll results, several State-level functionaries, including a senior leader who is not active in the party now, kept Shah informed about the allegations within the party and the subsequent war of words between Annamalai and Tamilisai's supporters on social media," a senior functionary said on condition of anonymity.

"But Amit Shah admonished Annamalai during the closed-door conversation and Tamilisai in a public event that until the order comes from the high command, unnecessary activities and talks should be dropped," the leader said.

Commenting on this, another senior BJP leader who wished not to be named said it was Shah's nature to point fingers while talking to others. "This is his style. He could have had the conversation with the former governor privately. Seeing Tamilisai suddenly, he spoke to her like that. But Annamalai has received an even sterner warning than this. But, this video went public and viral," the leader added.

"Shah could have avoided this controversy by discussing the issue in private. He raised his fingers on a public platform, forgetting that Tamilisai has been a governor," opined political commentator K Mugesh.