Amid rumblings in Tamil Nadu BJP following a setback in the Lok Sabha elections, Home Minister Amit Shah's brief conversation with former Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan at the swearing-in ceremony of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has gone viral on social media. In the brief exchange captured on camera, Amit Shah appeared to have gestured Soundararajan not to do certain things.
While it was unclear what exactly he told her, some have linked the incident to the infighting within the Tamil Nadu BJP, particularly between supporters of state president K Annamalai and Tamilisai Soundararajan. The infighting began after the saffron party could not win any seat in the Lok Sabha elections.
A section of party leaders blames Annamalai for his decision not to ally with AIADMK. AIADMK leader and former state minister SP Velumani squarely blamed Annamalai for the party's split with the BJP. Tamilisai, who fought and lost the Chennai South seat, also endorsed the view that the BJP-AIADMK alliance could have won up to 35 seats if the alliance had continued.
Soundararajan took a dig at Annamalai over the defeat in an interview, which did not go down well with Annamalai's supporters. The state BJP chief's supporters disparaged Tamilisai online. Her supporters hit back, setting off an ugly confrontation on social media.
DMK spokesperson Saravanan Annadurai targeted Amit Shah, questioning his move to "reprimand a prominent female politician" publicly. "What kind of politics is this? Is it polite to publicly reprimand a prominent female politician from Tamil Nadu? Amit Shah should know that everyone will see this. A very wrong example!" he said.