“As a leader of a political party, Annamalai should speak responsibly and make charges backed with evidence. He should explain what was the concession given by him to the BGR company. If he provides any evidence, I would accept responsibility. If not, he should publicly apologise,” Senthilbalaji told reporters at Tangedco headquarters here.

Annamalai alleged irregularities over the contract given to BGR. He tweeted that BGR Energy is being represented in court by DMK’s Rajya Sabha MP P Wilson. “It’s getting very interesting more our EB Min talks! Let us connect the dots and the answer will be evident!” he responded to Senthilbalaji on Friday.

“This is not a new contract. The contract was given when the BJP and AIADMK alliance was in power. The contract amount was also fixed by Edappadi K Palaniswami’s government and all happened during the AIADMK regime,” Senthilbalaji said, adding that as per the direction of the Chief Minister, once the works start it would be completed without any further delay to increase the generation capacity.

However, BJP state president Annamalai refused to apologise for making allegations of corruption against Electricity Minister Senthilbalaji.

The BJP leader, who was in Tirupur to see the ongoing construction work of the district headquarters building, said that he would not seek any apology for his corruption remarks in Tangedco on social media.

“I am ready to face it legally if a case is filed in court,” he said in response to a query regarding Senthilbalaji demanding an apology from Annamalai for making allegations without any proof.

Annamalai, who was accompanied by the party’s national general secretary Arun Singh, said that the party president JP Nadda will visit Tirupur on November 10 to inaugurate the district headquarters building.

Meanwhile, Minister for Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare N Kayalvizhi Selvaraj tweeted denying charges levelled against her by Annamalai that she had engaged cooks employed in Adi Dravidar Welfare Hostel to work in her kitchen. “It is a blatant lie as I have employed only cooks by paying salary,” she claimed in the tweet.