CHENNAI: A day after his remark on former chief minister J Jayalalithaa widened the rift between the AIADMK and BJP, state president of BJP, K Annamalai, on Wednesday sought to smoothen the ruffled feathers of the AIADMK leaders saying he has high respect for Jayalalithaa and had never spoken anything ill about her. He also clarified the alliance between the two parties will continue.
“I didn’t and won’t talk anything ill about Amma anywhere and I am NOT competent enough to make such remarks. Please see my speeches about Jayalalithaa, her personality, her able leadership and governance, in the public domain,” Annamalai told reporters when asked about the controversy over his remark made in an interview.
Annamalai said certain former ministers of the AIADMK have wrongly understood his remark which he said as a matter of fact in the interview. “I did not use any undignified words against anyone. I have expressed my high respect for the former chief minister and I have expressed them on many occasions. I spoke about how she worked for the poor and how she functioned as an able administrator,” he added.
Stating that he has been fighting against corruption and there would be no deviation from that, Annamalai recalled Sarkaria Commission had indicted the former chief minister M Karunanidhi and the then agriculture minister in the pesticide scam.
“In no other state, central investigative agencies have conducted searches twice in the state secretariat, which is considered the seat of power. So, corruption has become a deep-rooted issue in this state,” he added. When asked about the alliance between the AIADMK and BJP, Annamalai said, “It gets going as usual. Already, leaders of both parties have confirmed that the alliance will continue. They are in touch over the telephone.”