Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Tamil Nadu President K Annamalai addresses the press conference in Chennai on Wednesday.
| Photo Credit: ANI
Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party president K. Annamalai on Wednesday dismissed the allegation levelled by Gayathri Raguramm, who quit the party on Tuesday, that women were unsafe in the party’s State unit and said it was “her opinion”.
Addressing the media here, he said he had no regrets when someone left the party and the party had “crores of women members” and more were joining. He, however, refused to respond to specific allegation Ms. Raguramm levelled against him.
“Who has not levelled allegations against me?” he asked, and went on to name a few Tamil media outlets, which, he said, were regularly criticising him. He included Ms. Raguramm’s allegation in the same category.
According to him, his response is “silence” whenever a publication said anything [negatively] about him. “People are watching. They will decide. The same applies to the opinions of those who left the party.”
When asked about the criticisms made by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy regarding his leadership, he said some leaders like Mr. Swamy thought that they owned the party. Such leaders expected him to “fall at their feet” to get their “certificate,” but he would not do that.
Women not safe
He criticised the DMK government for failing to promptly act against two DMK cadres (since suspended), who were accused of molesting a woman constable in Virugambakkam, Chennai. They were belatedly arrested.
Similarly, he criticised DMK’s R.K. Nagar MLA J.J. Ebenezer for letting a conservancy worker clean a clog in the drain with bare hands in his presence. He demanded that the MLA be booked under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act and the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
He blamed the State government for failing to provide necessary attention at the highest level in the ongoing issue of caste discrimination and untouchability in Pudukkottai district.
Heated argument
Mr. Annamalai also had a heated argument with a section of media persons. When pressed further for a response on allegations made by Ms. Raguramm, he blamed the media for being “agenda-driven”. He asked whether the media questioned the Chief Minister and senior ministers about the alleged molestation of the constable.
Earlier, he had an argument with the reporter of Tamil television news channel, Puthiya Thalaimurai, who asked why Mr. Annamalai was making several allegations against the DMK government without releasing evidence. Referring to a particular allegation he made in the past about the government, he said he would give all the evidence and challenged the media outlet to do a detailed programme on the issue.
He claimed the Department of Information and Public Relations influenced media outlets by providing them revenue through advertisements. “Those who ask more questions to me here [at the event] will get more revenue,” he claimed. Stating that he had data on the revenue given by DIPR to media outlets, Mr. Annamalai, however, refused to share the data and asked the journalists to try to get it independently.