Annamalai acting like DMK’s ‘B’ team, says CVe Shanmugam

CHENNAI: Senior AIADMK leader and Rajya Sabha MP CVe Shanmugam unleashed a scathing attack on state BJP president K Annamalai for his remark on the 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 reporters before attending the party’s district secretaries’ meeting at party headquarters.

Citing corruption charges against the BJP government in Karnataka, which was routed in the recently held elections and called it a 40 per cent commission government, the former law minister 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 to saffron party’s poor show in 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 PM 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 Shah. Why remain silent?” he asked and said if BJP has grown in the state, let them go. Who was stopping them?

Echoing the views of 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 functionaries are levelling serious corruption charges against Annamalai that he took money from bootleggers, criminals, and scamsters for party postings. So he is unfit to talk about corruption,” said Shanmugam and recalled the posting given to K Harish, a prime accused in Aarudhra trading scam.

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

Annamalai’s remarks childish, says TTV

BJP state president K Annamalai has been showing his childishness in all his comments and through the comment against the late chief minister J Jayalalithaa, he proved his innocence again, said AMMK general secretary TTV Dhinakaran on Tuesday. Speaking to reporters soon after Annamalai’s comments against Jayalalithaa surfaced, Dhinakaran said, during 1996, the then DMK government filed as many as 49 cases against her and she overcame everything and due to the conspiracy made across the country against her, she was found guilty in the DA case. “Jayalalithaa helped the BJP and paved way for making their foothold in Tamil Nadu and the BJP leaders like Vajpayee, Advani and the present Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a cordial relationship with Jayalalithaa. Annamalai, who is just a beginner in politics may not know all these as he is ignorant of the past history which is very important for a state level leader,” he said.