Did Amit Shah warn Tamilisai on stage? Video sparks rumours amid Tamil Nadu poll debacle | India News

NEW DELHI: The bigwigs of politics and Tollywood gathered in Vijayawada on Wednesday to witness the oath ceremony of new Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu. But now that it’s over, a video clip of an interaction between Union home minister Amit Shah and former Telangana governor Tamilisai Soundararajan has sparked speculation about potential rifts within the BJP’s state unit.
The clip, which surfaced on social media, showed Tamilisai greeting Shah on stage as she walks past him. A second later, Shah calls her back and talks to her wagging his finger. The content of their conversation, however, remains unclear.
The video has caught attention of many amid the speculation of rift between Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai and Tamilisai after the Lok Sabha debacle.
BJP Tamil Nadu social media cell vice president Karthik Gopinath took to X and wrote: “That looks like a strong admonishment from Amit shah ji to Tamilisai akka . But what could be the reason for this “public” warning? Unwarranted public comments?”

Spokesperson of the DMK, Saravanan Annadurai said: “What kind of politics is this? Is it polite to publicly reprimand a prominent female politician from Tamil Nadu? Amit Shah should know that everyone will see this. A very wrong example!”
Annamalai vs Tamalisai
After BJP drew a blank in TN in the recently-concluded Lok Sabha elections, a section of party functionaries blamed Annamalai for the results. Tamilisai’s statements sparked fresh controversies as she opined that if BJP had teamed up with AIADMK, they would have won several seats.
She also questioned postings given “to people with criminal history”. Though Annamalai was silent, his supporters clashed with supporters of Tamilisai on social media. Sources say that Annamalai, citing tug of war on social media, sought more control over the party.
“Annamalai is unhappy about the fact that many party functionaries do not pay heed to him and urged leadership in Delhi to give him complete control of party reins to ensure a good performance in 2026 assembly election. We can expect a complete revamp of state BJP unit soon,” said another party senior, not willing to be named.
Both Annamalai and Tamilisai lost as LS candidates. State general secretary of BJP OBC Morcha Tiruchi Suriyaa Siva hit back at Soundararajan for her comments earlier that “anti-social elements” were inducted into the party.
Union minister for commerce Piyush Goyal, who is in-charge of Tamil Nadu, has also sought a report from members of state BJP’s core committee about the infighting and other issues pertaining to the state unit, multiple sources confirmed to TOI.