‘I’m not Jesus Christ’: Tamil Nadu BJP chief over feud with finance minister PTR
The Twitter war between Annamalai and Rajan, popularly known as PTR, comes in the backdrop of a leaked audio between Annamalaiand the BJP’s Madurai rural district secretary Maha Suseendran discussing the finance minister.
Following a war of words between Tamil Nadu’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief K Annamalai and state’s finance minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, the former on Thursday said that he is not Jesus Christ to turn the other cheek if Rajan insults him.
The Twitter war between Annamalai and Rajan, popularly known as PTR, comes in the backdrop of a leaked audio between Annamalaiand the BJP’s Madurai rural district secretary Maha Suseendran discussing the finance minister.
After the incident, the DMK supporters had shared the audio conversation to allege that Annamalai was behind the incident during which a slipper was hurled at the finance minister.OnAugust 13,PTR had gone to Madurai to pay homage to a soldier killed by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir. Later, six BJP workers were arrested for the incident.
Annamalai admitted that it was his voice in the audio but charged that the DMK had doctored the audio clip.
While responding to a question over his choice of words in the Twitter war between him and PTR and particularly on the BJP chief’s usage that Rajan was not worthy of his footwear, he said: “They speak of social justice but how many first generation politicians have come up in the DMK?”
“And if someone like that does come up, you use abusive language and your I-T wing. If you slap me, I’m not Jesus Christ to show my other cheek. If you hit me, I will hit back. If you are aggressive, I’ll come at you with double aggression. If the DMK engages in respectful politics, I’ll be doubly respectful,”said the IPS officer-turned-politician who has been heading the state BJP unit since 2021.
“The DMK has to forget its old way of doing politics by threatening,” he said, adding that the DMK thinks they can threaten him because he is “from a village where his family is involved in farming and rearing goats.”
On Wednesday evening, PTR had tweeted that he won’t address Annamalai by his name and instead used a goat emoticon which is how the BJP chief is reportedly mocked by his opponents here. Attaching photos and newspaper clippings, PTR said that Annamalai is a rabble-rouser, lies blatantly and “seeks publicity” with a “martyr’s body” and “engineers slipper-throwing on car”. Following PTR’s tweet, Annamalai in a series of tweets denied any role in the incident.
“Mr PTR, your problem is this: You & your coterie, who only live with your ancestors’ initials, cannot accept a self-made son of a farmer who also proudly practices farming - as a person,” the state BJP chief said.
“Have you done anything worthwhile in this life except being born to a great lineage & a silver spoon? You are a curse to politics & our state! You need to understand there are people like us too - who don’t travel in big planes; don’t shut down banks & importantly, have a balanced brain & a life. Finally, You are not worthy enough for my chappals. I’ll never stoop to your level to orchestrate something like that. Don’t worry!” he tweeted.
