No one can make a person stay in a party at gunpoint: Annamalai

BJP former state president K Annamalai on Friday dismissed reports that he may launch a new party but hinted at being conflicted on his current role in the organisation. At the same time, he also said, none can put a gun to one’s head and force a person to remain in a party.

Asked about the development in the NDA in Tamil Nadu, Mr Annamalai told journalists in Coimbatore, “I am also waiting and watching as a karyakarta of the BJP.”

Mr Annamalai said, “We all have the unanimous view that the NDA should win in the Assembly elections… We saw several political developments at the memorial of Muthuramalinga Thevar on Thursday (the coming together of AIADMK rebels). I am also waiting eagerly because I joined the BJP and am continuing to be a part of it with the confidence that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah will give (the State) a ‘pure’ politics. Otherwise there was no need for me to quit my job and be a party cadre.”

Stating he did not have the authority to comment on the composition of the alliance, he said, “I will stay if I like or I will quit if I do not and continue doing farming. I will talk when the time comes. No one can make a person stay in a party with a gun on his head. It is a voluntary mechanism. We are in politics spending our own money.”

He added, “I always speak directly. I am still ready to wait….I am not a traditional politician who will speak differently in different places.”

On the possibility of launching a party, he said: “I am a first generation politician from an agriculture family without any backup. How can I start a new party? I know my heights. My confidence in Prime Minister Narendra Modi remains… Sometimes I am talking against my conscience. I say something while my conscience says something else because leaders are saying so. Yet, we cannot tolerate some things. Let us wait and see. Good will happen.”

Saying many AIADMK leaders were speaking ill of him, Mr Annamalai said “I am keeping quiet because of the word I gave to Mr. Amit Shah. It will take two minutes for me to talk back. Everyone has a limit, a lakshman reka. When time comes, I will talk,” he said.