Will happen in Tamil Nadu too: Annamalai to DMK on Maharashtra crisis

Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai on Tuesday correlated Tamil Nadu's 'dynasty politics' with that of the recent Maharashtra political crisis saying 'it will happen in Tamil Nadu too'.

Addressing a gathering, Annamalai said, "Eknath Shinde emerged out of Shiv Sena, he followed 'raj dharma'. It will happen in Tamil Nadu too...We (Tamil Nadu BJP) will get 25 MPs in the Lok Sabha polls, which is equal to 150 MLAs in the Assembly polls in the state."

Earlier in June this year, Eknath Shinde led a group of Sena MLAs against the MVA government, resulting in it losing its majority in the Maharashtra assembly. This also led Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray to step down as CM ahead of a floor test.

The new Eknath Shinde-led government in Maharashtra won the floor test on Monday by a 164-99 margin, proving his government's majority and cementing his position as chief minister of the state and the leader of the Shiv Sena. 164 votes were polled in favour of Shinde, while 99 votes were polled against the newly formed BJP-Shinde camp coalition.

Drawing parallels between Maharashtra's Shiv Sena and Tamil Nadu's DMK, he said, "Karunanidhi's elder son Muthu planned to act in films but it didn't work. His other son Azhagiri is out of the party like the Thackeray family. His third son Stalin became CM, like his (Balahsaheb Thackeray's) son in Maharastra. Stalin's son acted in films, as it is happening in Maharastra too. This is history in front of us (in Tamil Nadu)," he added.

The Tamil Nadu BJP chief further gave an ultimatum to the ruling DMK till 31 to implement its poll promises of closing state government-run liquor shops.

The BJP also warned the state government of going on a state-wide padayatra from January 1, 2023, if the DMK fails to fulfil its promises.

"We want to tell state govt to fulfill their poll promise by December 31 this year. If half of TASMAC stores (Govt-run liquor shops) are not closed by December 31, a 'padayatra' from Kanniyakumari Vivekananda Rock till Chennai's Gopalapuram will be held," said K Annamalai.