Stepping down from election work in six constituencies due to personal reasons: Annamalai

Former State president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) K. Annamalai said he had conveyed to BJP State president Nainar Nagenthran his inability to take up the responsibilities assigned to him in six constituencies for election-related work because of personal commitments.

Mr. Annamalai told the media in Coimbatore on Tuesday that he would take up whatever work the party gave him during the Assembly election.

He has also explained to Mr. Nagenthran his inability to actively take part in field work now because of his father, who was undergoing treatment in Coimbatore, as he needed to stay with him, he said. “It is not a fault to be a single penguin sometimes,” he said, when he was referred to as a penguin.

The focus for the BJP and its cadre is to ensure the National Democratic Alliance’s victory in the State in the Assembly election.

Responding to Vijay

“TVK leader Vijay shouldn’t call the BJP an empty engine, as the TVK does not have an engine at all,” he said. If the TVK is able to field candidates in all the constituencies in the State for the Assembly election, it can be said that it has an engine, Mr. Annamalai remarked.

“The DMK government provides subsidies for many schemes. Why is it not supporting the industries with a power cost subsidy. Many industries from Tamil Nadu are now investing in other States that offer such subsidies,” he alleged.

Mr. Annamalai charged the DMK government with not allocating enough for capital expenditure in its Budget, while the Centre had been increasing its allocations for capital expenditure.

Tamil Nadu must make use of the schemes announced in the Union Budget to generate jobs for its youth, he added.