The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Tamil Nadu seems to have shot itself in its foot by an apparent jingoistic circulation of a video of a prominent and revered restaurateur apologising to Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Videos of Srinivasan, managing director of Sri Annapurna Restaurant, meeting Sitharaman were widely circulated on social media, mostly by BJP-leaning handles, and invited immediate criticism.
After the video created a controversy, BJP Tamil Nadu president K. Annamalai took to social media and apologised “for the actions of our functionaries who shared a private conversation between a respected business owner” and the minister. However, the video has done enough harm by then.
Srinivasan had on September 11 raised issues about the GST regime at a meeting attended by the minister in Coimbatore. He pointed out the discrepancies in taxing sweet and spicy food. Srinivasan is also the president of the Tamil Nadu Hotel Owners’ Association.
‘GST is no joke’
“There is five per cent GST on sweets but 12% on savouries, and 18% on cream-filled buns, whereas there is no GST on buns. Customers often complain, saying, ‘Just give me the bun, I’ll spread the cream and jam myself,’” Srinivasan said, sparking a peal of laughter from the audience.
The event was jointly organised by the Coimbatore District Small Industries Association (CODISSIA) and Lagu Udyog Bharati Industrial Organisation. Entrepreneurs from Coimbatore, Tirupur, and Erode attended the conference.
Srinivasan also joked that GST was being levied differently on food items prepared by the same cook, and it was even confusing the computer preparing the bills.
He called for a uniform GST on food items, especially in Tamil Nadu, where sweet and savoury items were consumed together. Addressing BJP MLA Vanathi Srinivasan, who was present at the conference, the restaurateur stated that she justified the difference in GST on sweets and savouries saying North Indians consume too many sweets and hence it was fixed at five and 12%.
“In Tamil Nadu, we call it sweet karam coffee (sweets, savouries, and coffee). So madam, please make it uniform,” he said.
Fragile egos delivering humiliation
Vanathi Srinivasan was among those who posted the video of Srinivasan apologising to Sitharaman. The video showed the trio but did not mention where they had met.
“I spoke only about those that were discussed in the association. I do not belong to any political party. Sorry, if I have said anything wrong,” Srinivasan was heard saying in the video.
“Coimbatore Annapoorna Srinivasan today Union Finance Minister Mrs. @nsitharaman They were also met by Coimbatore South Assembly Member Smt. @VanathiBJP When he met them and expressed his regret and apology for the speech he gave in the meeting that was wrongly encouraged and what he said was indecent and wrong..!” an X post by Balaji M.S., social media convener of Tamil Nadu BJP, read.
Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, said that while the central government disregarded the requests of small businesses, it bent the rules for a billionaire friend.
When the owner of a small business, like Annapoorna restaurant in Coimbatore, asks our public servants for a simplified GST regime, his request is met with arrogance and outright disrespect.
Yet, when a billionaire friend seeks to bend the rules, change the laws, or acquire…
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) September 13, 2024
Tamil esteem at stake
Responding to the video, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MP Kanimozhi said the Union government and ministers should not spoil the self-esteem of Tamils. She quoted from the Kural to substantiate her point: “I will work and pride is small/Wear it and surprise yourself.”
Sree Annapoorna is a famous vegetarian restaurant chain in Coimbatore. On Wednesday, the owner of the restaurant Mr. Srinivasan attended an event with FM @nsitharaman and asked a question about the anomalies in GST very very politely.
“The problem is that GST is applied… pic.twitter.com/FNldzP0hu7
— Congress Kerala (@INCKerala) September 13, 2024
Several netizens launched a hashtag campaign, #standwithsrinivasan on X.
Additional serving of intolerance?
Meanwhile, the Congress in Kerala posted videos of Srinivasan’s speech at the conference and of his meeting with Sitharaman on its X page.
“Madame Sitharaman laughed at it on stage. But Mr. Srinivasan was later made to apologise to her on video and he was seen saying that he is not affiliated to any party. Master ji (oblique reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi) is intolerant to criticism and his minions are also acting like him, becoming extremely intolerant to criticism,” it said.
Srinivasan hailed from the Kongu Nadu region, spread over west and northwestern Tamil Nadu. The region is considered to be the vote bank of the BJP. The video of Srinivasan apologising to the minister might affect the BJP’s prospects in Kongu Nadu since he belongs to a family that introduced the taste of crispy keera vadai and filter coffee to Tamil Nadu in the 1960s.
Annamalai says sorry
Even as the BJP came under fire from politicians and netizens, the party’s state president Annamalai spoke to Srinivasan and regretted the circulation of the video that shared a “private conversation” with the finance minister.
On behalf of @BJP4TamilNadu, I sincerely apologise for the actions of our functionaries who shared a private conversation between a respected business owner and our Hon. FM.
I spoke with Thiru Srinivasan Avl, the esteemed owner of the Annapoorna chain of Restaurants, to express…
— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) September 13, 2024
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
This article was originally published on SouthFirst.
