‘Was discussing …’: Tamilisai clears air on video that sparked BJP rift speculation

NEW DELHI: Former Telangana governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Thursday shut down all speculation regarding any rift within the Tamil Nadu BJP, which were triggered after a video went viral showing Amit Shah animatedly talking to Tamilisai.

Stating that they were merely discussing post-poll concerns, Tamilisai said: “On Wednesday, I met Amit Shah for the first time after the 2024 elections, he called me to ask about post-poll followup and the challenges faced.

As I was elaborating, due to paucity of time with utmost concern he advised me to carry out the political and constituency work intensively, which was reassuring. This is to clarify all unwarranted speculations.”
Many reports were already doing rounds of an internal rift between Tamilisai and BJP state president K Annamalai following the party’s poor performance in the Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu. Tamilisai resigned from her governor’s post in March and unsuccessfully contested in Chennai South Parliamentary constituency.

The controversy gained more attention with a video showing a brief interaction between Union home minister Amit Shah and former Telangana governor

Tamilisai Soundararajan that went viral on social media on Wednesday. In the video, Shah was seen wagging his finger while speaking to Tamilisai, as former vice-president Venkaiah Naidu and Union ministers J P Nadda and Nitin Gadkari remain seated nearby. This happened at the swearing-in ceremony of Chandrababu Naidu in Vijayawada.
(With inputs from agencies)