News Tamil Nadu

BJP Leader Annamalai’s UPSC Score Was Higher Than General Category Cut-Off, More Details

March 27, 2024
The Commune

The DMK IT Wing has been resorting to spreading false narratives about BJP leaders over and over again. Just recently, they reshared an old video featuring South Chennai BJP candidate Tamilisai Soundararajan as if the incident happened in the present. Another instance was when they caught wind of a news channel twisting Tamil Nadu BJP President Annamalai’s statements over “quota system”. The DMK IT wing hastily opposed him and initiated a campaign to criticize him. However, to their misfortune couldn’t have been so worse, as their efforts to undermine the Tamil Nadu BJP and Annamalai typically end up backfiring on them.

Shortly after skimming through the video titles of the news, without thoroughly examining Annamalai’s complete video statement, S Bala, the State Deputy Secretary of the DMK IT Wing, released a video statement accusing Annamalai of deceiving the people, saying, “After studying IPS, IIM, BE through quota, you are cheating the town like this @annamalai_k”

In the video statement S Bala said, “Hello Annamalai, you are campaigning stating that you didn’t study through quota system. You have studied BE engineering in PSG Tech, how did you study that? You studied through BC quota, who gave that BC reservation? You studied engineering in PSG Tech in the BC quota brought in 1975 when Kalaignar (Karunanidhi) was the Chief Minister. After that you studied management in IIM Ahmedabad, what is that quota? That was the quota brought in by Manmohan Singh’s higher education reservation in 2006 as advised by Kalaignar (Karunanidhi), that’s how you studied at IIM. After that, you were selected for IPS how was that? that’s when VP Singh brought 27% OBC reservation in 1990, that too was advised by Kalainar (Karunanidhi) from that you became IPS. So, when you studied BE, the quota was brought in by Karunanidhi, studied IIM with quota, then IPS also with quota brought in by VP Singh.” Then S Bala, the Deputy Secretary of the DMK IT Wing, expressed his disbelief in the statements made by Annamalai, alleging deceitfulness. Bala pointed out Annamalai’s contradictory claims regarding his educational background, accusing him of misleading the educated populace. Bala challenged Annamalai, questioning whether he would deceive others as well.

He referred to Annamalai’s anecdote about traveling to college with his father using three buses and two tin boxes, suggesting that Annamalai inquire about how his father managed to afford his education. Bala attributed Annamalai’s ability to get education because of the free electricity provided during the tenure of Karunanidhi as the Chief Minister, insinuating that Annamalai owed his education to the Dravidian movement. Bala concluded with a tone of superiority, asserting that in Tamil Nadu, those who once carried tin boxes have risen to prominent positions due to Dravidian ideologies, contrasting Annamalai’s “alignment” with Gujaratis and Nagpur RSS, which, according to him, could lead Tamil Nadu back to a state where people would have to resort to carrying tin boxes for survival.

As the quota debate ignited across social media platforms, everyone expressed frustration towards the apparent arrogance of the DMK. The DMK IT Wing state deputy secretary’s speech, explicitly linking Annamalai’s success to fidelity to the DMK and Dravidian ideology, fueled this ire. This sentiment is not novel; previously, a DMK Organising Secretary RS Bharathi insinuated that Dalit judges in the Madras High Court owed their positions to the alms provided by the Dravidian movement. Such statements echo the DMK’s historical stance, akin to a feudal landlord asserting dominion over land and its inhabitants.

So Did Annamalai Achieve So Much Through The Quota System As Claimed?

Annamalai’s academic achievements suggest that irrespective of his background, he achieved all that he did through hardwork and merit. However, the DMK expects any Tamil individual who achieves eminence from humble beginnings to acknowledge their indebtedness to the party’s leadership and its supposed benevolence. Over its 70-year existence, the DMK has sustained itself by eroding the self-assurance of Tamils, consistently propagating the notion that reservation is their sole avenue for advancement. Yet, increasingly, people from various communities in Tamil Nadu regard Annamalai as one of their own. His narrative of self-assurance and unwavering conviction unsettles the DMK.

Annamalai was a topper in All India Civil Services exam in the IPS cadre conducted by the UPSC in 2010, he surpassed the General Category cut-off marks, scoring 970 against the mains cut-off of 904, and 1180 against the combined mains and interview cut-off of 1134. It’s notable that in the UPSC exam, if a Reserved Candidate utilizes any of the relaxations provided for the Reserved Category, they are then eligible solely for Reserved Category seats. By this standard, it’s evident that Annamalai exceeded the General Category cut-off even in the prelims, as he did not utilize any Reserved Category relaxations, thereby securing an Unreserved seat purely on merit.

 

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Notably, the highest achiever in each IPS cadre earns the opportunity to make an address at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Annamalai delivered his speech before President Pranab Mukherjee in 2011.

Despite Annamalai’s statement to the reporters had no mention of the reservation quota system, the DMK’s aim to criticize Annamalai resulted futile. This incident serves as a poignant reminder of Annamalai’s accomplishments and serves as a lesson to the DMK regarding their approach and mentality.

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