Serve Us Beef: Congress Leader Elangovan Asks Tamil Nadu BJP Chief Annamalai, Triggers Controversy

Congress leader EVKS Elangovan has triggered a controversy after asking Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai to serve him "beef" at the party office.

It all started after Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed in Odisha that the missing keys of the Ratna Bhandar (treasure trove) of Puri's Jagannath temple were in Tamil Nadu.

On Wednesday (22 May), TNCC President K Selvaperunthagai demanded an apology from PM Modi and HM Shah for derogatory remarks about Tamils in Odisha. He cautioned that failing an apology within a week would prompt Congress protests at BJP Chennai headquarters.

Responding to the said comments, K Annamalai said, "If the TNCC president informs us in advance of the date on which they plan to lay siege to the BJP office, we will arrange food for the 10 people who will be visiting our office. We will also present books on how the DMK and Congress have betrayed Tamils in the past."

Reacting to Annamalai's claims that the BJP will arrange food for food, Elangovan said, "If we come to BJP office, we will require non-veg food, we like beef so we will require non-veg food and beef to eat. We are giving them two days time."

The video of Elangovan's controversial remarks have now gone viral.

Attacking the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government in Odisha on Monday, the PM had said that "even the temple of Lord Jagannath in Puri is not safe in the hands of this government,", expressing concern over the missing keys of Lord Jagannath's Ratna Bhandar (treasury) for the last six years.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin took exception to Modi's remarks, saying he was "creating a feeling of enmity between people and anger between states with his hatred speeches."

On the PM's comments on the missing Ratna Bhandar keys, Stalin said "it amounts to insulting Lord Jagannath, revered by crores of people, besides insulting and hurting the people of Tamil Nadu who have good relations and friendship with the state of Odisha." "Can PM Modi disparage the people of Tamil Nadu as thieves stealing the treasure of a temple...doesn't it amount to insulting Tamil Nadu. Why such dislike and hatred for Tamils," the CM asked.