Tamil Nadu BJP chief Annamalai lashes out at Stalin over ‘political drama’ at PM Modi event

“Chief Minister MK Stalin’s speech last evening when PM Modi was on the stage is an example of how a political drama would be staged,” Annamalai said. Further, he added that it is the duty of the BJP to list out the various lies peddled by Stalin at the event.

“Who gifted Katchatheevu? DMK leader Kalaignar Karunanidhi and Congress leader Indira Gandhi did that. In 1976, they breached their agreement and gifted the islet completely to Sri Lanka. With what courage does Chief Minister Stalin ask the Prime Minister onstage to retrieve Katchatheevu? You don’t need to teach us a lesson. We know how to retrieve Katchatheevu. Each citizen of Tamil Nadu has the right to speak about the retrieval of Katchatheevu, except the family of Stalin,” Annamalai lashed out.

He added that without knowing the process of the GST Council, Stalin spoke about GST and that has brought shame to the people of Tamil Nadu.

During the speech, Stalin had highlighted the disparity between Tamil Nadu’s contributions to the national economy and the share it received from the Union government. The chief minister said the state’s share in GDP is 9.22 per cent and in the overall tax income of the Union government, the state’s share is 6 per cent, but the revenue they get from the Union Government is just 1.23 per cent. Stalin also urged the Union government to release the pending GST dues.

Reacting to this, Annamalai said the state owes Rs 25,979 crore to the Union government, but neither did the Union Finance Minister nor the Prime Minister speak about it. “Pending GST dues are to be settled by the GST Council. Even if our finance minister decides to stop them, it cannot be done. The finance minister has no role in stopping the pending GST dues to Tamil Nadu,” he said.

The BJP leader further accused the ruling DMK government of setting targets for each of their MLAs to bring more DMK functionaries to attend the event at the stadium. “Is this competitive politics? A Prime Minister has to be provided due respect. Even if the DMK is our enemy on the grounds of policies, we never disrespected the chief minister. How can you call this a ‘Dravidian Model’ after acting in such a manner?” the BJP leader asked.

He further said, there is no doubt that the conduct of the Chief Minister is a black mark in Tamil Nadu’s political history. “People should ask about this. This is a very wrong precedent. However, despite all these hurdles, the BJP would be there to uphold the rights of Tamils,” he said.