Suriya Shiva has advised the state leadership to remove BJP General Secretary Kesava Vinayagam if the party wants to grow in Tamil Nadu.
Suriya Shiva with TN BJP chief K Annamalai. (Supplied)
Just days after Suriya Shiva was relieved of all party positions in Tamil Nadu BJP for six months over a controversial and abusive phone call between him and minority wing chief Daisy Saran, he announced his exit from the party on Tuesday, 6 December.
Before being suspended from party posts, Suriya Shiva, who is the son of DMK MP Tiruchi Siva, was the general secretary of Tamil Nadu BJP’s OBC Morcha.
Even though Suriya heaped praises on Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai in his resignation letter, he also advised the leadership to remove BJP General Secretary (Organisation) Kesava Vinayagam if the party wanted to grow in state.
In addition, he hit out at senior leader and Union Minister of State L Murugan over his alleged “interference” in party affairs, without which, according to Suriya Shiva, Annamalai would be able to do “wonders”.
“L Murugan and Kesava Vinayagam be happy hereafter at least now try to trust party workers. I think without your interference, my Thalaivar (Annamalai) can do wonders. Please give him space for our people leader… If you want BJP to win in Tamil Nadu, you both please don’t involve in my Thalaivar way,” Suriya Shiva said in his letter addressed to Annamalai.
This episode has yet again brought to fore the fissures within the Tamil Nadu unit of the saffron party.
According to sources, many seniors in the party were upset with Annamalai for giving prominence to Suriya Shiva, who joined the party only in May this year.
Surya Shiva and Gayathri Raguramm. (Twitter)
Even Gayathri Raguramm, the BJP’s Other States and Overseas Tamil Development Wing president — who was suspended for six months for continuously “violating party discipline” — had questioned the state leadership for overlooking people who have worked hard for Tamil Nadu BJP for several years and instead favouring new entrants such as Suriya Shiva.
Suriya Shiva’s resignation letter is further proof of the infighting within the party as he told L Murugan and Kesava Vinayagam not to “play games” using Gayathri Raguramm and Daisy Saran.
Just a few days back, the Tamil Nadu BJP drew flak over a leaked conversation between Suriya Shiva and Daisy Saran, in which the former hurled distasteful abuses, threatened sexual violence, and issued death threats to the Minority Wing chief, allegedly because he was upset over the appointment of certain party functionaries in Trichy.
Due to massive outrage over the leaked audio, Annamalai constituted a one-man committee to conduct an internal probe on the matter and submit a report. Subsequently, Suriya was suspended from all the party posts for six months.
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