‘Modi poses like a ....’: TOI editor plays a ‘game’ after TN BJP chief compares media to ‘monkeys’

In case you missed it, Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai was the subject of much criticism last month when he compared journalists to “monkeys”.

A group of journalists had been asking him for comment during an interaction in Cuddalore on October 27. Annamalai grumbled, “Why are you surrounding me like monkeys jumping on a tree?...Dogs, ghosts and arrack sellers in the state may ask questions. Do I have to be replying to everything they ask?”

He refused to apologise, the Chennai Press Club condemned “insults and threats from politicians”, and the DMK called his comments “highly condemnable”.

The Times of India’s resident editor in Tamil Nadu, Arun Ram, joined the fun today in his column. 

“Now that Annamalai has opened the gates of a political animal farm,” he wrote, “let’s have some fun. Why don’t you, dear reader, assign an animal for your favourite political leader’s actions and gestures?”

He helpfully provided some starting points:

Ram also said he wasn’t offended by the “monkeys” comment because “it was Annamalai who made the comparison”: “The thing about Annamalai is that he is funny even when he doesn’t intend to be funny – especially when he gets angry, which is most of the time.”

Over the months, Annamalai’s relationship with sections of the media in Tamil Nadu has been fraught. In May, journalists in Chennai held a protest against his “bad attitude” towards them. As one journalist told Newslaundry at the time, “Annamalai intimidates reporters when he doesn’t have answers to their questions.” Read the report here.