There is no confusion over the issue of creation of ‘Kongu Nadu’ by bifurcating Tamil Nadu, and the BJP does not resort to emotional politics or split States. People are “making a mountain out of a mole hill”, BJP Tamil Nadu president K. Annamalai said on Friday.
“There is no confusion over ‘Kongu Nadu’. We don’t do emotional politics, we don’t split [States]. The mention of ‘Kongu Nadu’ for Mr. Murugan [his predecessor and now a Union Minister] was one of social identity. The BJP’s stand on the issue is that there is no confusion,” he told reporters here.
Mr. Murugan said, “This is not a point for discussion at all. The mention of ‘Kongu Nadu’ in my bio was a ‘clerical error’.”
Asked about a BJP district unit passing a resolution demanding the creation of ‘Kongu Nadu’, the former IPS officer said the district unit leader was pulled up and asked for an explanation.
“When there was no demand from the people, how did they pass such a resolution...?”
As for his remarks that the media would be controlled in six months, Mr. Annamalai said he was speaking only about the information technology guidelines, the new media regulations and the media ethics code that was under discussion. “The mention was about that. It is not about the traditional media that have editors and processes to check the authenticity of news. It is for social media, OTT platforms, digital news media and news aggregators. The BJP has utmost respect for the media,” he said.
Mr. Annamalai said the party’s stand on the Mekedatu issue was also clear: it was opposed to Karnataka’s plan for a dam. “If you store 69 tmcft at Mekedatu, the question is whether [or not]water will come [to Tamil Nadu] during the drought season. Our stand is that the Supreme Court’s ruling must be implemented, and not even one tmc ft of Cauvery water should be reduced,” he said.
The BJP leader said students of poor families had benefited immensely from NEET and last year, Tamil Nadu had a large pass percentage in the test.