Man in the muddle

State president Annamalai's alleged high-handed ways sow dissension in the BJP, and riles ally AIADMK

- LAKSHMI SUBRAMANIAN

ON MARCH 10, the BJP organised a demonstration in Chennai against the DMK government for allegedly hounding its state president K. Annamalai. The event witnessed an unusual incident. A local BJP functionary declared that his party was the “real” opposition in Tamil Nadu, casting aspersions on ally AIADMK and its leader, Edappadi K. Palaniswami. BJP vice president Karu Nagarajan soon grabbed the mike and ended the leader’s runaway speech, as leaders like Khushboo looked on bemused.

Tensions in the BJP-AIADMK alliance have been simmering for long. On March 5, more than a dozen BJP functionaries, including IT cell chief C.T.R. Nirmal Kumar, defected to the AIADMK. Nirmal’s resignation letter accused Annamalai of having underhand dealings with DMK ministers. “The party is led by a mentally stunted person,” he wrote, “and it is inching towards destruction.”

A day after Nirmal jumped ship, several of his former colleagues followed suit. Nirmal said Annamalai had humiliated the IT cell through actions and words. Apparently, he once hurled a dossier across a desk and blamed the IT cell for not boosting his image. “I have been tolerating everything for the past one and half years, but there is nothing more petty than spying on one’s own party cadre,” Nirmal told THE WEEK.

Sources in the BJP said that Nirmal had first approached Palaniswami three months ago. The AIADMK leader was apparently reluctant to take him in. He relented only after receiving an internal report that said Nirmal could help strengthen the AIADMK’s IT wing.