Former IPS Officer ‘Singham’ Annamalai Says Social Media Trends In Tamil Nadu Are Paid Ones, Emanate From Nations Like Georgia, Ukraine

Former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of Karnataka cadre K Annamalai, who joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday, has said that he is not worried about trolls and memes either against him or the BJP as they are paid ones.

Annamalai, whose joining BJP is expected to boost the party's prospects in Tamil Nadu especially when it is scheduled to face assembly polls in May next year, was trolled on social media on Tuesday when the announcement of him joining the national party was made.

In an interview to Chankyaa channel on YouTube, he said the trolls did not affect him as most trends on Facebook and Twitter originate from abroad. “If you give money, you get as many trends as you want,” he told the interviewer, Rangaraj Pandey.

He said such trolls and memes had become a Tamil Nadu culture and it should not worry him or the BJP.

“One person will be operating 10 accounts from different computers. In the end, all these will originate from countries like Georgia or Ukraine, Chile or Peru etc,” the former IPS officer, popularly known as “Karnataka’s Singam”, said.

Annamalai said there was no relation between a person and the reason for which he/she is trolled. These trends and memes lacked logic, he said and added that one shouldn’t worry about these and lose their peace of mind.

Stating that trends from Tamil Nadu on social media were among the top five in the country, he said he had observed these as an IPS officer and understood that these originated from abroad.

Most of the criticism (especially against the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are paid ones by the Dravidian parties — Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK).

“If you give me $100, I will get you as many tweets or social media trends you want tomorrow,” he further said.

To a question why he joined BJP, especially since it has started to grow only now, he said the ruling party at the Centre was a natural fit for him.

“It was a decision (to join BJP) I made by heart. I want to do good for people. I want to bring political change along with social change. I don’t think I have taken a risk by joining BJP since it treats all people equally, irrespective of caste or religion,” Annamalai said.

Conceding that BJP had been portrayed wrongly in Tamil Nadu, the former IPS officer said it can be set right with 45 per cent of the voters in Tamil Nadu being below 39 years of age wanting empowerment and looking at “politics of aspiration”.

To a question why he did not consider joining the DMK, Annamalai shot back: “It is a natural decision. How can I join a party when I stand for everything against its founding ideology?”

Elaborating on the issue, he wondered how a young person entering politics will get an opportunity since the DMK’s politics was centred around one family.

Hereditary politics was the central theme of DMK politics, which blocks the opportunity for others to come up. Also, the DMK policies and principles differed when in power and when out of power.

The party toed different lines when in power on issues such as the Sri Lankan Tamils, the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for medical college seats and the goods and services tax. “I cannot talk one thing when in power and another when out of power,” he pointed out.

On not looking at AIADMK, he said the ruling party in Tamil Nadu had inherited half of DMK’s problems. “Most of their leaders have a photo (the late Jayalalithaa) in their pocket and do politics. I simply cannot accept Dravidian politics,” Annamalai said.

The former IPS officer said when he was doing his Masters in Business Administration he had interned as an analyst for the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK), founded by Tamil actor Vijayakanth.

He said he had worked under veteran Dravidian leader Panruti S Ramachandran, who was then DMDK’s guide and philosopher before returning to his parent party AIADMK. “It was a professional assignment and to understand politics,” Annamalai said.

Annamalai’s comments on social media trends irked the trolls so much that they began to trend #gobackModi again on Twitter today.