Video: Tamil Nadu minister's son refuses medal from Annamalai
What's the story
Suryaa Raaja Baalu, son of Tamil Nadu Industries Minister TRB Raja, refused to let Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader K Annamalai garland him at the 51st State Shooting Games. Instead, he chose to accept the medal by hand. The incident happened when Annamalai was invited as the chief guest and was garlanding the winners during the ceremony.
Twitter Post
Watch the video here
At a sports event, son of DMK Minister TRB Raja refused a medal from Annamalai while he was honoring youngsters
— Karthik Reddy (@bykarthikreddy) August 25, 2025
Responding with grace, Annamalai wished him success and more laurels ahead. Thats how a leader with love & affection to his people lives pic.twitter.com/2PsgIvZku4
Public snubs
Similar incident 2 weeks ago
This incident comes just two weeks after another similar public snub in Tamil Nadu. At the 32nd convocation of Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, doctoral student Jean Joseph walked past Governor RN Ravi, refusing to accept her degree from him. She chose to receive it from Vice Chancellor Chandrasekar. Joseph, who is married to DMK's Nagercoil Deputy Secretary M Rajan, later explained that her decision was a protest against the Governor's "anti-Tamil and Tamil Nadu" stance.
Protest criticism
Annamalai had condemned Joseph's protest
At the time, Annamalai had condemned Joseph's protest as a "deplorable drama staged by DMK members to gain fame." He accused them of "using educational institutions for political purposes." The BJP leader also asked state Chief Minister MK Stalin to advise party members against "bringing low-grade politics into schools and universities."