Ruckus over rupee diverted attention from Rs 1,000 cr kickbacks: Annamalai

Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai on Friday claimed that the "ruckus over the rupee" was "artificially created" by the Tamil Nadu government to divert attention from the Rs 1,000 crore kickbacks identified by the Enforcement Directorate in the state-run liquor corporation, TASMAC.

Annamalai made these remarks while attending an event at Jain (Deemed-to-Be) University in Jayanagar, Bengaluru.

"BJP walked out of the Assembly todayour four MLAsfor the simple reason that the whole budget is an eyewash. There's nothing productive about it, considering the last four budgets of the Tamil Nadu government," said the BJP state president to PTI Videos.

 

Annamalai said that the Tamil Nadu government is yet to "learn its lesson" from Thursday's fiasco.

"We believe that the Assembly should have been prepared, and the CM should have addressed the TASMAC issue today, even during the budget session. The rot runs deep. That is why we walked out," added Annamalai.

He also criticised the state government's budget, stating that it relied heavily on borrowing.

"Already, our debt has touched around Rs 9.5 lakh crore. Today, it may possibly reach Rs 10 lakh crore. We are the number one state in terms of debt. They just borrow, borrow, borrow, and keep spending," he said.

He also dismissed the meeting called by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on March 22 to discuss the delimitation of constituencies, calling it a "non-issue".

"Home Minister Amit Shah has clearly said it will be on a pro-rata basis, meaning the state's current position will remain the same Nobody will have a higher share, and nobody will have a lower share," he said.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi also said a year ago that we don't believe in the Congress model of delimitation. But he clearly mentioned that no state will lose its might, especially the southern states. They want to make a mountain out of a molehill," he added.