DMK Mocks Annamalai’s Padyatra After He Rushes To Delhi Midway

Just nine days into his much hyped Tamil Nadu padayatra from Rameswaram, BJP leader K Annamalai was summoned urgently to Delhi by party president JP Nadda. The DMK has been watching Annamalai’s yatra with some apprehension as the crowds buzzing around were significant. Old women hugged him, kids brought for show time, women complaining of inflation, gas cylinder prices and tomatoes squelching home budgets. From Gandhi’s Dandi March to Annamalai’s ‘En Mann, En Makkal’, such yatras have unfailingly drawn crowds for that curiosity factor. Any wonder that DMK chortled, “Pada Yatra is now Padi Yatra“(a half yatra in Tamil) as the protagonist had to rush to hear his master’s voice. BJP cadres are offering any number of reasons for the sudden summons from Delhi. Meanwhile, BJP’s alliance partner AIADMK’s Edapaddi K Palaniswami (EPS) has suddenly found his lost self-confidence after Modi gave him spotlight importance in Delhi. This has emboldened him to announce a protest march challenging DMK about the denial of Cauvery waters to save TN delta kuruvai crops. This may put Stalin on the back foot. What if EPS walks away with the kudos and bargaining power? It’s well known that Annamalai has a prickly equation with EPS. Maybe the BJP top brass want him to mend fences with EPS?