The 54th Annual Gathering of the Tamil weekly news magazine took place at Chennai’s Music Academy on January 14, 2024. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and K Annamalai, the president of the Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party, graced the event as the chief guests. Following a long-standing tradition upheld by Thuglak, questions were posed to the Editor, and S Gurumurthy patiently addressed inquiries from readers and magazine supporters. Subsequently, Shashi Tharoor and Gurumurthy delivered speeches.
The highlight of the event was the speech of Tamil Nadu BJP President K. Annamalai who lambasted at the DMK government and its politics in a fiery speech.
Calling out the DMK for its behaviour of hanging on to anyone and anything just to stay in power, Annamalai recounted how Indira Gandhi was praised by Karunanidhi in 1980. He had said, “Welcome Nehru’s daughter, give us stable rule”. When the VP Singh government came to power and DMK’s name came up in the Jain Commission report as having been part of the conspiracy to assassinate Rajiv Gandhi, the DMK took back the support. In 2004 when DMK needed the Congress, they said something similar for Sonia Gandhi who was the then-Congress President. He said, “Welcome Indira’s daughter-in-law, may the lady of India win.” Currently, neither party has defined policies; their primary goal is simply to retain power by any means, he added.
Annamalai emphasised how the schemes initiated by Mr. Modi have empowered individuals to break free from the ‘poverty trap’. “Seven schemes have been implemented that have given gas cylinders, power, and so on to each family and bringing composite laws to break the poverty trap. He (Modi) is trying to break the poverty trap with a hammer. There are no half-measures. The failure of the Congress is…they have been talking about ‘Roti, Kapada and Makaan’. They have been saying this since the 1980s. They have been in power without any idea of how to bring people out of poverty,” he said. Annamalai added that the BJP was the only party that gave a target and numbers on their manifesto and has been achieving all their promises so far.
In response to Shashi Tharoor’s accusation that the BJP was disrupting fiscal balance, Annamalai pointed out that the allocation based on population for fiscal devolution during Indira Gandhi’s era was nearly 50%. He said, “In 1990, it was still 35% when Congress wasn’t in power. In the 14th Finance Commission, the population as per the 1971 census was given 17.5% and according to the 2011 population census, population was given a weightage of 10% (total 27.5%). In the 15th Finance Commission, the weightage for population is just 15% and 40% is the distance between haves and have nots. 15% is decided by good performance and 10% is for ecological conservation, and 15% is geographical area. It has come down to 15% for population from 50%. It is comical that this is still being repeated by DMK and others. The 16th Finance Commission will give new parameters.”
Referring to the recent Global Investors Meet organised by the DMK government, Annamalai said it has attracted ₹6.64 lakh crore and this was comparatively less than what other states have received as investment commitments from multinational companies.
“Tamil Nadu has conducted the investors’ summit and we have received ₹6.64 lakh crore. Gujarat which hosted the investors’ summit just after TN garnered ₹26 lakh crore and Uttar Pradesh received ₹33 lakh crore. In 2022, Karnataka conducted a similar investor summit and it received Rs 10 lakh crore. But Purvanchal and Bundelkhand alone in Uttar Pradesh have received ₹9.74 lakh crore more than what Tamil Nadu attracted,” he said. “Stalin and DMK Ministers should understand that money will always see the future, money will not see the past. What the next 20 years are going to be, how is the economy going to be stable, these are areas they need to focus on,” he said.
Praising Uttar Pradesh’s model of governance and the fast growth it has seen under Yogi Adityanath’s rule, Annamalai said, “They call people from UP as “pan parag vayan” Even the most backward district of UP attracted over 9 lakh crore investment. Every single district in the state attracted money. Napoleon Bonaparte once said, Never wake up China, the world will tremble if China wakes up. Now I am saying this, “Never wake up UP, once UP wakes up – If I say jingoistically, then Tamil Nadu is in trouble. But if I say it as an Indian, Once UP wakes up, it will power India.”
He also added that when the population of UP hits a GER (gross enrolment ratio) of 40% in the next few years, labour will become an issue in Tamil Nadu in 2028-29. This is because if the manufacturing industry goes to UP, we will be in serious trouble. But we speak about the north and south. Till 2016, UP had only 12 medical colleges, today there are 32 new medical colleges there. In TN, 7 districts are below 2 in economic output, we must discuss that; talk about development.”
He also added, “Gurumurthy sir talked about global power shift, today we are seeing the power shift within the country. Today, what I see in Tamil Nadu is needless jingoism.”
Talking about Shashi Tharoor’s stint at the UN and his contesting in the UN secretary-general elections, Annamalai pointed out Tharoor’s article in The Open Magazine. He said reading that article will give us an idea about how India has changed. He also reiterated that today’s India under Modi would not have done what happened with Shashi Tharoor, and how foreign policy has changed under Modi.
Annamalai also said that the forthcoming parliamentary election holds immense significance as it has the potential to reshape the political landscape of Tamil Nadu. He also added that the BJP was determined to tirelessly work towards cleansing Tamil Nadu politics and will not cease its efforts. A transformation in Tamil Nadu’s political landscape is essential for change and for this, the language and grammar of TN politics had to change. He also mentioned the release of the trailer for DMK Files Part Three which suggests a forthcoming revelation. Once the full details emerge, it could potentially impact not only Tamil Nadu’s political scenario but also lead to a change in the state government. He closed his speech by saying “We want to face McGrath, not net bowlers, we want to face the bouncers.”
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