The Tamil Nadu unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held a hunger strike at the rice bowl of the state – Thanjavur on August 5, 2021.
BJP Tamil Nadu President K. Annamalai presided over the hunger strike with several senior leaders of the party like former National General Secretary H. Raja, former Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan, Tirunelveli MLA Nainar Nagenthiran, former Lok Sabha MP CP Radhakrishnan and Muruganandham participating.
Annamalai arrived to the site of protest in a bullock cart in solidarity with the farmers of Tamil Nadu. The strike received good response with the crowd exceeding the capacity at the site. Many who were trying to reach the protest site were prevented from reaching the spot by police. They then laid siege at the place where they were confined.
Speaking at the protest, Annamalai pulled no punches while hitting out at the critics of the BJP especially the DMK and Makkal Needhi Maiam. Annamalai said that the importance given to agriculture by the DMK government can be seen from the way in which its Ministers are promoted and given prominence. He said that while everybody knows who the Minister in-charge of liquor sales is, very few know about who the Agriculture Minister of the state is. “We see that the Minister in-charge of liquor sales (Senthil Balaji) is always around CM Stalin or his son Udhayanidhi Stalin but the Agriculture Minister can be seen nowhere near. This is the signature of this government.” Annamalai said.
He also said that the pathetic condition of the state is such that the district authorities hold a review meeting every month on liquor sales through TASMACs and not on the schemes.
Lashing out at DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran for his jibe on his hunger strike, Annamalai pointed out that his brother who runs Udaya TV (a Kannada channel part of the Sun TV Group) has been making money in Karnataka while claiming moral superiority in Tamil Nadu. He said that if the DMK indulges in derogating the BJP ever again, their shenanigans would be exposed and tarnished in public.
Annamalai further went on to attack Tamil Nadu Congress Committee President K.S. Alagiri who had demeaned the hunger strike protest by saying that a few in Tamil Nadu had gastroenteritis problem. Annamalai said that Congress is like a cycle tube with a lot of punctures pointing out the abysmal state in which the party is in.
On Kamal Haasan, Annamalai took a jibe at him saying that the former during election campaign stayed only in expensive five star hotels and went around in helicopters. He said that such people won’t come and protest like this as one has to be in the sweltering heat and break sweat. Pointing out to the mass exodus of the officials from his party, he said that Kamal Haasan was not just rejected by the people but also by members of his own party.
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