DMK demands apology after Karnataka BJP leader, Eshwarappa stops Tamil anthem

The DMK has demanded an apology from Karnataka BJP leader, K S Eswharappa after he stopped the Tamil Nadu state anthem at a convention held ahead of the assembly elections in the state.

Reports said that that the anthem was meant to be played at an invocation at the start of the programme aimed at the Tamil voters in Shivamogga on Thursday. However Eshwarappa appeared to be disturbed as it started playing. A few seconds later, he walked towards the organisers and asked them to stop the Tamil song and play the Karnataka state anthem instead. He also suggested that some of the women in attendance sing the Tamil song, but none came forward. The Karnataka anthem was then played.

The incident took place in the presence of Tamil Nadu BJP chief, K Annamalai, who is also the co-incharge for Karnataka.

The incident has sparked a controversy with DMK MP Kanimozhi demanding Annamalai to apologise."How can someone who could not stop his party members from denigrating 'Tamil Thai Vazhthu' care about the people of Tamil Nadu?" she said in a tweet in Tamil.

Annamalai responded with an old video when Tamil Nadu chief minister, M K Stalin was the opposition leader, in which after the National Flag was hoisted, the National Anthem and reportedly not been played.

"Do you need all this with a leader who doesn't know how to play the national anthem after hoisting our national flag? Is it not yours the history of removing the line 'Kannadamung Kalitelungum Kavinmalayalamum Tuluvum' from 'Tamil Thai Vazhthu' to sow the division of the state?" he wrote in a tweet in Tamil.

He further said, "our only mission is to save the Tamil people from you and the DMK's cheap politics. Do not worry."

Annamalai a 2011 IPS-batch officer resigned in 2019 and joined the BJP in 2020. Within one year, he became the president of the party's Tamil Nadu unit.