Dravidianist media outlets in Tamil Nadu, eager for clickbait, have come together to push a misleading narrative, misquoting former BJP Tamil Nadu president K. Annamalai after his recent press meet. Annamalai had clearly stated that he does not believe in forming a strong alliance based solely on numbers, but rather in offering the people a vision for a better government. However, these media outlets, which often align with the DMK, selectively twisted his words, misleadingly headlining his statement as, “We have not united to defeat the DMK.”
Media outlets like News18 Tamil Nadu and Thanthi TV played a key role in spreading this distorted narrative.
On 5 May 2025, News18 Tamil Nadu posted a video with a misleading headline, alleging that Annamalai had said, “I don’t believe we have united to defeat DMK”. They cherry-picked the first few words of his statement and used it as clickbait, completely ignoring the rest of his remarks.
திமுகவை வீழ்த்துவதற்காக
ஒன்றிணைவோம் என்பதை
நான் நம்பவில்லை – அண்ணாமலை #Annamalai #BJP #ADMK #News18Tamilnadu https://t.co/3v5L32pe7b pic.twitter.com/95B8CNZx31— News18 Tamil Nadu (@News18TamilNadu) May 5, 2025
Similarly, Thanthi TV ran a headline claiming, “Our alliance did not form to defeat DMK”, presenting an out-of-context response that misrepresented Annamalai’s actual message.
"திமுகவை வீழ்த்த எங்க கூட்டணி ஒன்றிணையல.." எதிர்பாரா பதில் கொடுத்த அண்ணாமலைhttps://t.co/NGq6JRplyr#tvkvijay #annamalai #thanthitv
— Thanthi TV (@ThanthiTV) May 5, 2025
Instead, at the press conference, K. Annamalai stated, “Personally, I don’t have much faith in the idea of a strong alliance to defeat the DMK. What makes strength? Is it the numbers? As far as I’m, the question is, what kind of government will we offer after defeating the DMK? People are asking, ‘You want to send the DMK home, but what are you going to do then? How will you address the law and order? The people ask what is the vision?’ They want a vision. If Tamil Nadu is givern for the next five years, what will we do? Today, our brother Edappadi Palaniswami, the opposition leader and political leaders in Tamil Nadu are already talking about what they will do, but for me, the 2026 elections won’t be decided by just numbers. It won’t be about how many parties are on the DMK’s side versus how many are on the opposition side. What matters is, if the people want to remove the DMK, who will offer them a better government? That’s the conversation happening today.”
He continued, “I don’t believe in, ‘Let’s unite to defeat the DMK.’ What I believe in is ‘Let’s unite to defeat the DMK and give a good government.’ That is what the Bharatiya Janata Party believes and I think all parties, including the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, believes in.”
திமுகவை வீழ்த்துவதற்காக
ஒன்றிணைவோம் என்பதை
நான் நம்பவில்லை – அண்ணாமலை #Annamalai #BJP #ADMK #News18Tamilnadu https://t.co/3v5L32pe7b pic.twitter.com/95B8CNZx31— News18 Tamil Nadu (@News18TamilNadu) May 5, 2025
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