BJP Tamil Nadu president K. Annamalai on Sunday said here that the growth of expelled DMK functionary Jaffer Sadiq that enabled him to establish ties with an international drug cartel showed that there was a systemic problem in Tamil Nadu where the police department failed to monitor and take action against him.
According to him, the accused was arrested in 2013 in Chennai in a drug case. In 11 years, he had grown to become an “international drug criminal”. The police should have monitored him. Instead, he was moving freely, and had taken pictures with DMK leaders. Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, who has the Home portfolio, should have conducted review meetings. The State government should engage all stakeholders to control the drug problem in the State, he added.
Mr. Annamalai further said that the BJP had started working on a plan to address the drug menace. The start-up cell of the party would organise a challenge programme on March 7 and 8 in Tenkasi, seeking solutions to control this menace in the State. Asked if he would contest in the upcoming Lok Sabha election, he said, “I have no likes or dislikes. I will abide by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision...”
To a question on the BJP using names of leaders of other parties (for electoral gains), he said that Mr. Modi had earlier spoken about leaders such as Rajaji, Kamaraj, Vijayakant, and M.G. Ramachandran. The BJP acknowledges leaders who have worked for the people. It gave Bharat Ratna to P.V. Narasimha Rao, Charan Singh, and Pranab Mukherjee. These are not for votes, he added.
