Row over Amit Shah video snowballs, Tamilisai says were discussing ‘post-poll challenges’

In the clip, Shah is seen wagging his finger while speaking to Tamilisai on stage at Chandrababu Naidu’s swearing-in ceremony Tuesday. It went viral after state BJP leaders posted it on social media and suggested that Shah was rebuking Tamilisai over remarks purportedly targeting Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai.

On Wednesday, Tamilisai said on X: “Yesterday as I met our Honorable Home Minister Sri @AmitShahji in AP for the first time after the 2024 Elections he called me to ask about post poll followup and the challenges faced.. As i was eloborating,due to paucity of time with utmost concern he adviced to carry out the political and constituency work intensively which was reassuring. This is to clarify all unwarranted speculations around…”

Yesterday as I met our Honorable Home Minister Sri @AmitShah ji in AP for the first time after the 2024 Elections he called me to ask about post poll followup and the challenges faced.. As i was eloborating,due to paucity of time with utmost concern he
adviced to carry out the…

— Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan (மோடியின் குடும்பம்) (@DrTamilisai4BJP) June 13, 2024

While a DMK spokesperson questioned the Home Minister for “exhibiting harsh words with a threatening body language” against a woman leader, Nadar community leaders sought an apology from both Shah and Annamalai, asking if such treatment would be accorded to upper caste leaders from the party.

The Nadar community has largely stood by national parties in a state where Dravidian parties have dominated politics for decades.

Veteran Congress leader K Kamaraj and senior BJP leader Pon Radhakrishnan belong to this community. BJP sources said the incident could be damaging unless “handled carefully”.