'Who Is Annamalai? Oh That Joker': DMK's Dayanidhi Maran Mocks Tamil Nadu BJP Chief

Former Union Minister Dayanidhi Maran has mocked Tamil Nadu BJP Chief Annamalai, calling him a "joker".

When India Today's Rajdeep Sardesai asked him about the fear of the rising star in the BJP, Maran said, "Who is it?" Then, journalist reminded him that he is the Tamil Nadu BJP chief and Coimbatore Lok Sabha candidate for which he said, "the joker".

"You are talking about that joker," the DMK leader said amid the cheers from his supporters. To his response, the journalist asked, "Are you underestimating him?" The DMK shot back saying, "Are you overestimating him? He is a lame duck."

In the last two years, the BJP, which was irrelevant in Tamil Nadu politics, has managed to draw the public's attention by playing the role of a strong opposition. The major credit for this has gone to Annamalai. Not surprisingly, several surveys have predicted that the saffron party will cross double-digit vote share in the Lok Sabha polls and possibly win a few seats.

However, Maran's comments did not go well with the netizens who reminded Maran that Priyanka Gandhi had made similar comments about Smriti Irani, who defeated Rahul Gandhi in Congress' forte Amethi.

"Who is that? Said Priyanka Vadra when asked about Smriti Irani. And her family is history in Amethi," one user said.

The second user commented, "Arrogance ! He himself is expected to lose!"

The third user stated, "'First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.' No, Gandhi ji didn't say this. A similar quote was said by Nicholas Klein, a trade union activist, in 1918."

One netizen stated, "Could this be the "Smriti who?" moment of TN politics. Could these words come back to haunt DMK. Me thinks so."

The fifth user stated, "Same egoistic satirical jibe was tried by #PriyankaGandhiVadra in 2019 for #Amethi elections..And after that what happened is HISTORY.."

Another netizen said, "With Same arrogance Priyanka Gandhi talking about Smriti Irani Now, her family is afraid to nominate in Amethi."

However, Dayanidhi Maran predicted that the DMK and the Congress will win all four seats in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

Tamil Nadu will vote in a single phase on April 19.