Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai has set his sights on removing Chief Minister MK Stalin and the ruling DMK from power, vowing to take extreme measures in his pursuit. On Thursday, Annamalai made a bold promise, declaring, “I will whip myself six times” and “I will not wear footwear until the DMK is defeated.”
Annamalai, who led the BJP’s unsuccessful campaign in the April-June federal elections, also announced plans for protests in response to the recent sexual assault of a college student at Chennai’s Anna University. The BJP and the AIADMK, the DMK’s political rival, have strongly criticized Stalin’s administration in light of the incident. However, the Tamil Nadu government has rejected accusations of politicizing the matter.
Speaking to the media, Annamalai revealed his protest plans, stating, “Starting tomorrow (Friday), I will hold a protest in front of my house, where I will whip myself six times. I will also fast for 48 days and appeal to the six-armed Murugan.” The BJP leader further committed to not wearing sandals until the DMK is removed from power, holding up a pair of shoes while speaking to reporters.
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The protests come in the wake of a violent incident at Anna University involving a 37-year-old man, who runs a roadside biryani stall. He has been arrested in connection with the assault on a female student, which also saw her male friend being beaten. Annamalai has fiercely criticized the state government, accusing it of fostering a climate of lawlessness and protecting criminals. In a post on X, he lamented that “women don’t feel safe” in Tamil Nadu due to the government’s priorities, claiming that police are focused on suppressing opposition rather than upholding law and order.
Annamalai’s harsh criticism follows the BJP’s dismal performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, where it failed to win a single seat in Tamil Nadu. The DMK-led alliance, including Congress, swept all 39 parliamentary seats in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. Annamalai himself was defeated in the Coimbatore seat, losing to the DMK’s Ganpathy Rajkumar by nearly 1.2 lakh votes, while former Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan also lost Chennai (South) to the DMK’s Thamizhachi Thangapandian by a margin of 2.2 lakh votes.
