Media will be brought under control in six months, says Tamil Nadu BJP president

An attempt at coercion, says Tamil Nadu Minister.

The new president of the Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP, K. Annamalai, has stirred up a row, saying the media in the State would be “brought under control within six months”. He said all the media would come under his predecessor L. Murugan, who is now Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting. Tamil Nadu Information Technology Minister Mano Thangaraj said, “His statement is an intimidating one. It is highly condemnable.” Mr. Annamalai issued a warning to the media while addressing party workers at Namakkal on July 14 as part of a three-day roadshow from Coimbatore before he arrives in Chennai and takes charge. He said, “Forget about the media. Don’t worry about things like they are carrying ‘false news’ about us, what can we do... Within the next six months, you will see that we can bring the media under our control, take them over... you don’t worry about anything. No media can keep projecting false information continuously.”