After the All India Anna Dravida Kazhagam (AIADMK) passed a resolution condemning K Annamalai over corruption remarks against former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, the BJP Tamil Nadu President on Wednesday, June 14, said his comments were misinterpreted.
In a press meet in Chennai, Annamalai said, “As I already mentioned in my statement, former ministers from AIADMK wrongly interpreted my comments and criticised me. In the last four years, I've spoken about her personality, how good she was as an administrator, and how she worked towards the welfare of poor people of the state. I noted a fact as a fact in the interview.” He also went on to say, “I did not speak in a derogatory manner. My comments about Jayalalithaa are available in public as all of them are well documented. I praised her personality and even once mentioned that I wanted to become a politician like her,” the state BJP chief said. His comments came after AIADMK passed a resolution against him over his comments against Jayalalithaa and called him politically immature.
During a recent interview with the Times of India, Annamalai was questioned about his claims to expose corruption within all political parties, including the AIADMK. In response, he stated, "I am not taking any party names, but we will question any government that swindled the public exchequer." When asked about the period between 1991 and 1996, when J Jayalalithaa was the Chief Minister, he went on to describe it as one of the worst periods in terms of corruption, attributing Tamil Nadu's reputation as one of the most corrupt states to multiple administrations.
In the resolution against Annamalai, AIADMK also noted that the BJP had not had a single representative in the Tamil Nadu Assembly for the past 20 years, and the party currently has four MLAs due to the support of Edappadi Palaniswami, the General Secretary of AIADMK.
Countering the resolution of the AIADMK, Annamalai said 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.” He reiterated that corruption is one of the major issues in Tamil Nadu.