Tamil Nadu BJP president K. Annamalai on April 25 released a 57-second audio clip, which, he claimed for the second time, contained the voice of Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan. The person in the audio seemed to be complaining about the ruling DMK.
In his tweet, releasing the audio, Mr. Annamalai said, “Listen to the DMK ecosystem crumbling from within”. It has to be, however, noted that the word DMK did not find any explicit mention in the audio.
In the clip, the person could be heard saying he had been a proponent of “one man, one post” since he entered politics. “It is what I like about the BJP. Who looks after the party, who looks after the people. Separate those, right?”. The person seemed to indicate that such a distinction of responsibilities and powers was absent in the DMK.
“Special thanks to TN FM for drawing a proper distinction between DMK & BJP!,” Mr. Annamalai said in the tweet.
Repeated listening to the audio clip indicated that there were some cuts in between. It was not clear whether the audio was from the same or a single source of audio or conversation.
In the later part of the clip, the person is heard saying, “The party which is the CM’s son and son-in-law…”, in an apparent reference to Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, his son and Minister for Youth Welfare and Sports Development Udhayanidhi Stalin and his son-in-law V. Sabareesan.
The person was further heard saying, “So, I decided after watching this for eight months…This is not a sustainable model”. In the last part of the clip, the person seemed to indicate that he was contemplating resigning from his position before the situation worsened and that he would still have a clear conscience as he did not give up the fight too early.
Only last Wednesday (April 19), another short audio clip, purportedly belonging to Mr. Rajan was released on social media. Reacting to that audio, Mr. Annamalai said it substantiated his “claims” of corruption charges against the DMK.
Mr. Rajan, who responded to that audio on Saturday, said it was not authentic. “It has been repeated and amplified by unscrupulous political players, and I am distressed to find that traditional media, the fourth pillar of democracy, are disseminating such fabricated, malicious third-hand information [an article about the comments of someone, about the alleged audio, about an alleged conversation with an unknown person],” he said, in a statement.
A delegation of BJP had met the Governor R.N. Ravi on Sunday and submitted a representation, seeking an independent forensic audit. AIADMK said it would urge the Union government to probe the issue further.
Any response from Mr. Rajan or the DMK to the audio clip released will be updated as and when available.
