Chennai: The uneasy relationship between the media in Tamil Nadu and the state’s unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took another ugly turn on May 27 after state BJP president K. Annamalai told a reporter of a Tamil news channel that he would recommend ‘a hike from his paymasters, Anna Arivalayam (the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s headquarters)’ for his questions at a press meet.The reporter had asked Annamalai about the erection of banners for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit the previous day, citing a violation of an order of the Madras high court. Annamalai responded by saying that they were following police instructions and there was no violation.When the reporter asked more questions, Annamalai responded by remarking that the reporter “will get his Rs 200.”“I will ask them to give you more,” he said, going on to say that he would tell the state government to increase the “money to Rs 3000.”On May 30, several media organisations, including Madras Union of Journalists, Chennai Press Club and the Centre of Media Persons for Change (CMPC) came together to protest against Annamalai’s remarks and demanded an apology.Journalists gathered in protest against Annamalai’s remarks. Photo: Special arrangement.On May 31, Annamalai escalated the issue further by commenting, at a BJP protest, that he was only against “DMK members masquerading as journalists”, demanding that they do a “self-introspection”.Journalists have argued that the state BJP has a habit of making derogatory remarks against the journalists. “BJP’s national executive member H. Raja always made such remarks at his press conferences. Now Annamalai is following in his footsteps,” said M. Haseef, joint coordinator of the CMPC.Also read: ‘Within Six Months, We Can Bring Media under Control, Take Them Over’: New BJP TN ChiefHaseef said that BJP leaders follow a “cheap tactic of branding journalists as pro-DMK when they are unable to respond to questions raised”.“What happened on May 27 was in that line,” he said.The BJP has always sought to play down their attacks on media by claiming that the journalists have remained silent in the face of such attacks from other political parties, especially the DMK.“It is true that the other leaders, too, have badmouthed the media; and we have reacted. Those leaders have expressed regret, but the BJP leaders have called journalists ‘anti-Indian’, ‘on DMK’s payrolls’ and the like. Never once have they expressed regret for such remarks,” Haseef said.R. Mani, an independent journalist with over 30 years of experience in Tamil media, agreed with Haseef. “Of course leaders like Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa have badmouthed the media, but they always left room for course-correction. They will take steps to restore normalcy with the media. That has never happened with the BJP,” Mani said.Rangaraj Pandey, a pro-right-wing journalist who runs a YouTube channel by the name ‘Chanakyaa’, says that the media is “discriminatory towards the BJP”.“The journalists should distinguish between press meets, debates and interviews. They cannot repeatedly ask questions and monopolise the space in a press meet,” he said. “The regrets expressed by the DMK leaders are not heart-felt. But when BJP leader and actor S. Ve. Shekar expressed a sincere apology for merely sharing a derogatory Facebook post, the media still went after him.”But Haseef says that Shekar wouldn’t have tendered an apology if there had not been a case against him. “He wouldn’t have apologised if there was no opposition from the media; if there was no demand to arrest him for his remarks,” Haseef said.Pandey, however, sought to downplay what is now infamously referred to as the ‘auctioneering of journalists’ by saying that Annamalai “did it in lighter vein to diffuse the rising tensions.”“You might have noticed how those seated next to Annamalai rose when the arguments continued. Annamalai had to ask them to sit. Similarly, when Annamalai said that he will not tolerate any criticism against the party, the partymen clapped. Annamalai asked them not to. So, he sensed the tension and passed the comment in a lighter vein,” Pandey contended.However, Mani says that no other leader has made such a remark against any journalist at any point of time in the state.“Also, to see this as Annamalai versus the Tamil media is almost like trivialising the issue,” Mani said. “The problem is structural. We need to see how the BJP has been dealing with the media at national level. The Prime Minister has not met the media in the last eight years; there is no word from him about Danish Siddiqi for posthumously winning the Pulitzer. Media houses which have refused to toe the line have been rewarded with raids and cases.”“This issue in Tamil Nadu has to be viewed in that sense. The battle lines are drawn,” he continued. “Annamalai is a political novice; it’s been only two years since he joined the party. But the BJP high command encourages him because he creates this image of keeping the party alive in the state where it has no support at all. Ultimately, he wants to prove that the the BJP is the alternative to the DMK and not the AIADMK. The journalists are made scapegoats in the process.”