CHENNAI: A day after Chief Minister and DMK president M K Stalin declared support for the INDIA bloc’s Vice-Presidential nominee B Sudershan Reddy, former BJP state president K Annamalai on Wednesday appealed to him to reconsider the decision and extend support to the NDA candidate, CP Radhakrishnan.
Speaking to reporters after paying tributes at the residence of former Nagaland governor La Ganesan in T Nagar, Annamalai said, “C P Radhakrishnan has been nominated as the Vice-Presidential candidate of the National Democratic Alliance. He will bring respect to that position. It is the wish of our party that all in Tamil Nadu support him. In the past, Shiv Sena members supported Pratibha Patil. We hope all parties will support Radhakrishnan irrespective of political lines. The Chief Minister still has time to reconsider. This is an opportunity for the DMK to convey that it stood with Tamils.”
On the bill mandating the removal of the Prime Minister, Chief Minister or ministers from office if they are jailed for more than 30 days, Annamalai said, “This applies to everyone who has taken the oath of office. It is not aimed at any individual. The law strengthens the people’s trust that elected representatives cannot continue in office if they face conviction.”
On Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam’s upcoming second state conference, he said, “Every party has the right to hold conferences. They may go their way, but people will have greater trust in our ideology and policy.”