A day after insinuating that the State government was seeking to disburse “stolen money”, BJP State vice president K. Annamalai clarified on December 21 that he was not referring to the proposed ₹2,500 Pongal cash gift.
On December 20, he spoke at Karumathampatti near Coimbatore at a meeting organised by the BJP in support of the three farm laws. “Giving money stolen from the people of Tamil Nadu back to them as ₹2,000 during election time is what Tamil Nadu government [is doing],” he said during the speech. Mr. Annamalai also asked the voters to “not mortgage five years of their life” after accepting the money. He did not specify whether he was referring to the Pongal cash gift in his speech.
As the clips of his speech went viral on social media, Mr. Annamalai took to Twitter on Monday to clarify that he was referring to the practice of ‘cash for votes’. “We welcome the Chief Minister increasing the cash gift for Pongal from Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 2,500. In these times of [COVID-19], this money given by the State government will be helpful for the people,” he tweeted.
Asserting that the BJP will never indulge in ‘cash for votes’ politics, Mr. Annamalai alleged that a section of the media was attempting to conflate his remarks with the announcement of Pongal cash gift.
AIADMK spokesperson Kovai K. Selvaraj told The Hindu that State-level BJP leaders like Mr. Annamalai must speak with responsibility. “It is not fair to comment about the parties in alliance like the Opposition parties,” he added.
