DH Radio | The Lead: IPS officer turned politician K Annamalai on the political landscape ahead

In this episode of The Lead from DH Radio, K Annamalai talks about politics in Tamil Nadu, his views on Hindi imposition and more.

E T B Sivapriyan: What is the difference between being an IPS officer and a politician, according to you, because both are involved in doing service to the people?

K Annamalai: There is a lot of difference and it is almost like chalk and cheese. An IPS officer has a clear set of guidelines and he has to go by the law and implement it. As a politician the roles are very different and first of all we belong to a political party with a certain ideology. Secondly, the party is for everybody. The ecosystem of politics is entirely different, the thought process is different, and we got to balance the needs of everyone. And at the same time, we have to balance the country’s needs and need to be futuristic in our politics also. Politics is a slightly different cup of tea and not every time we look at efficiency and in politics, we have a word called efficacy.

Sivapriyan: It has been a month since you joined the BJP. Which according to you is difficult – being a politician or being an IPS officer?

Annamalai: Both are tough, extremely tough jobs. A police officer has to take risks head on and in a country like India where the system is imperfect, a police officer, unlike other professions, has to bear the brunt of what he is doing. When you are in the field, and you do not know when people will throw stones at you and invariably the leader has to lead the force. That is a different set of challenges, and we have got to lead a team with different sets of constables, sub-inspectors, and inspectors and people have different mindset. If you look at politics, as I said, it is an entirely different cup of tea. Both are equally tough and challenging.

Tune in to the podcast to know more about the conversation.

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