Annamalai calls Jayalalithaa ’Hindutva leader’, VK Sasikala hits back

Mangalore Today News Network

Chennai, May 25, 2024: Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai recently talked about AIADMK supremo and former chief minister J Jayalalithaa, and said "she was a far superior Hindutva leader than anybody else in Tamil Nadu."

 

Annamalai, in one his recent interviews to PTI, said he will not let the BJP play second fiddle to any political party in Tamil Nadu, where there is a great scope for his party to fill the void created by the AIADMK’s "drifting away" from the Hindutva ideology after Jayalalithaa’s passing.

"Now, if you look at it, sir, till Jayalalithaa ji was alive, she was a far superior Hindutva leader than anybody in Tamil Nadu. Pre-2014, when you have a party like the BJP and Jayalalithaa as a leader, the natural choice of a Hindu voter would be Jayalalithaa, who displayed her Hindu identity openly," Annamalai said.

He added Jayalalithaa was the first politician in the country, other than BJP leaders, to support the cause of a Ram temple in Ayodhya and enact an anti-conversion law in Tamil Nadu in 2002-03.

Reacting to Annamalai’s statement, VK Sasikala, a close aide of Jayalalithaa, issued a statement, stating these remarks by Annamalai go on to show his ignorance and misunderstanding about Jayalalithaa.

No one can confine a people’s leader like Jayalalithaa in any kind of narrow circle, Sasikala said.

"Till her last breath, she lived as a true Dravidian leader on the path shown by Anna and MGR. She was a leader celebrated by all communities- Hindus, Christians, Muslims etc. Amma was a great leader who overcame caste and religious barriers and dedicated her life to improving the lives of the people,” she said.

Sasikala added that the fact that Jayalalithaa had faith in God was well-known to all, but at the same time, she never believed in only one religion.

“She was the only leader who treated everyone equally,” Sasikala added.

Meanwhile, AIADMK also objected to Annamalai referring to Jayalalithaa as ’Hindutva leader’.

"All are one, God is one—is one of the ideologies of the AIADMK. Our leader Amma has lived her life based on that ideology. If, according to Annamalai, our leader were to be a great leader of Hindutva but not Modi, I welcome Annamalai to join the AIADMK after June 4. Annamalai’s political identity and relevance won’t be there after the results," said AIADMK spokesperson Kovai Sathyan.

Courtesy: India Today