“Careful, Without The Teeth Touching”: BJP TN Head Annamalai Calls Udhayanidhi Stalin – Karthigaichelvan Interview A “Friendly Match”

Clippings of an interview of DMK Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin by News18 Tamil’s editor, Karthigaichelvan, are making the rounds on social media platforms. The interview comes across as a soft, harmless one, and Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party head, K Annamalai reacted to it. He spoke to news reporters and elaborated on what he thought of it.

When asked about Udhayanidhi Stalin’s stand on the Ram Mandir, Annamalai replied, “I watched the interview yesterday and it felt like “carefully done with touching the teeth”. It had friendly questions, felt like the interviewer personally coached Udhayanidhi and there were I think 38 questions in all and each question had a response of less than a minute. In the 45-minute interview, he was asked 38 questions. Questions like, how does your mother consider your being a minister, do you have free time after becoming a minister, what is your pastime, like how they say in the villages, without touching the teeth. The interviewer, our journalist friend, carefully conducted it by “bowling” and even coaching him for the batting, he even prompted answers to the questions. He places the questions and also gives the answers to them himself. Is so much coaching needed to make Udhayanidhi Stalin act in an interview? So, the interview that was released yesterday is a friendly match. None of the questions seemed serious, nor were any of the responses. We do not want to lower our standards by responding to them. BJP’s press meeting is an example of what a press meeting should be and Udhayanidhi Stalin must watch it during his free time at home – what kind of questions are being asked, what are the problems plaguing Tamilians, and how BJP’s leaders and cadre are handling it.”

He added, “Will anyone ask a question like this, it was the same person who started the rumour that Udhayanidhi Stalin was going to be the Deputy CM and that someone was spreading this rumour which was quelled by Udhayanidhi himself. It was the DMK that started the rumour. Was it the BJP or the DMK MLAs who said they wanted to see Udhayanidhi Stalin as the Deputy CM in their lifetime? Was it us or the DMK ministers who said that Udhayanidhi Stalin was fit to become a Deputy CM? Did we say that Udhayanidhi Stalin must become the Deputy CM or was it the DMK cadre? You were the ones who said it and even set it up, while being aware of the fact that if it happens, people will laugh at him. Now you are turning the tables and pretending as if someone else spread the rumour while Udhayanidhi Stalin himself quelled the rumour. How many days will you play the worn-out reel? When the problem hits its peak, you release a friendly interview of 38 questions. I even read those questions (someone sent it to me) – were they fitting for someone who nurses ambitions to become a Deputy CM, someone who is a sitting minister? There is so much to talk about. They can talk about the north-south divide, ask about devolution, and ask him to talk about the funds received by TN, but they left out all that and ended up with a friendly media interview. I am just answering your question.

He continued, “DMK is the last one to be eligible to ask about the demolition of a “religious” structure. There is a saying, “You read the Ramayana but demolish Perumal (Vishnu) temples” – how many temples have they demolished after coming to power? After the people raised their voices, they stopped it for the time being. Today the same people are talking about demolition. This, after a 5-member Constitution bench that consisted of a Muslim judge delivered a unanimous verdict in the Supreme Court to grant permission to build the Ram temple and even where to build the mosque, facilitated justice for both parties. After this, a trust was formed, received money from the public as donations – each devotee in the country donated their hard-earned money to build the temple, not like the DMK people who built a house in Gopalapuram by looting people’s money, did they think it was like that? A person in TN has donated 25 crores to the temple. TN is the 3rd highest when it comes to who has donated the most to the Ram temple construction. What is Udhayanidhi Stalin talking about, does he even know anything, does he read anything, does he know what’s happening or does he know about the Supreme Court verdict?”

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