Tamil Nadu BJP president K. Annamalai on Friday claimed Palanivel Thiaga Rajan was divested of Finance portfolio only because of his release of the audio tape, which according to him, contained the voice of the Minister. He questioned the action when Chief Minister M.K. Stalin had in recent months highly praised the performance of Mr. Rajan.
Two audio clips, which allegedly had the voice of Mr. Rajan, were released in the public domain recently, of which one was released by Mr. Annamalai. Mr. Rajan has contended the audio clips were not authentic.
Interacting with journalists in Chennai, Mr. Annamalai challenged the Chief Minister to file another defamation suit against him for releasing the audio.
The Chennai City Public Prosecutor recently filed a criminal defamation complaint against Mr. Annamalai for making defamatory allegations against the Chief Minister at a gathering of media persons.
Mr. Annamalai said if what he said was defamatory, then releasing the audio clip was also defamatory as it had serious allegations of corruption. “I want the CM to treat them equally. Let the audio clip come up in the court, let the judge enquire and let it be forensically examined,” he said.
Highlighting many allegations made by the BJP regarding the functioning of Aavin, he said his party welcomed the removal of S.M. Nasar from the post of the Minister for Dairy Development.
He, however, criticised the appointment of T.R.B. Rajaa as the Minister for Industries. Listing the names of companies which he claimed were run by Mr. Rajaa and his family, he asked if this was the criterion to appoint him.
Referring to a defamation suit filed by DMK’s parliamentary party leader T.R. Baalu against him, he claimed Mr. Baalu, while serving as a Union Minister, was called out in 2008 in the Rajya Sabha for seeking favour for his company from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. He will continue to “expose” Mr. Baalu. Mr. Annamalai said he will release the next set of “DMK Files,” containing corruption allegations against 21 members of the DMK in the first week of July.
Later, he met and extended support to the Teachers Eligibility Test (TET)-qualified candidates protesting on the Directorate of Public Instruction campus against government’s decision to take up another competitive examination for becoming eligible for appointment.
