When the BJP launched its aggressive campaign in Tamil Nadu politics, especially in the recent Assembly elections, K.K. Annamalai, a former senior officer called “Singham” after the movie title because of his fighting style, is the undisputed face of the charge. The 2026 election tells a different story.
The BJP released its list of 27 candidates for the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections on April 3, but Annamalai, the former state unit president, was not in the list. While senior leaders like Tamilisai Soundararajan (from Mylapore segment), Vanathi Srinivasan (Coimbatore North) and Union Minister L Murugan (Avinashi) have been nominated, Annamalai is not contesting the April 23 polls.
Last year, Nainar Naginthiran replaced K Annamalai as state BJP president and is the only one to file nomination for the post which means he has been selected by the high command.
Annamalai congratulated the announced candidates for the 2026 elections. “They carry the support of every brother and sister in TN who are fed up with corruption, complacency and betrayal of DMK. Under the visionary leadership of Honorable Prime Minister Thiru @narendramodi avl, India has moved forward with strength, scale and purpose,” he wrote on X.
He criticized the current DMK-Congress state government. “I am Karyakarta [party worker] “We will stand shoulder to shoulder and campaign for all the winning BJP candidates and other NDA candidates, with the aim of NDA winning 210 seats in the upcoming Assembly elections,” he said.
In fact, Annamalai has consistently maintained a stoic public stance. “I have asked the party leadership not to select any seat for me as I have decided not to contest this time. My role is to strengthen the hands of our Karyakartas,” he said in Coimbatore last month.
However, reports in local media said that while the AIADMK leader offered him the Palladam seat to contest for the BJP, Annamalai insisted on Singanallur or Kondampalayam, the constituencies in the Coimbatore parliamentary segment from which he contested in 2024.
The AIADMK leads the NDA alliance in the state and will contest 169 of the 234 seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will contest 27 seats; Patali Makkal Katchi (PMK) 18; Ama Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) 11; Manila Tamil Congress 5; Indhiya Jananayaga Katchi (IJK) and Puratchi Bharatham got one seat each.
Elections in Tamil Nadu will be held in one phase on April 23. The counting of votes is scheduled to take place on May 4, along with the counting of votes in three other states and Puducherry district.
What’s next for Annamalai?
As for Annamalai, the former Indian police officer quit his job and joined the BJP in 2020. He became closely associated with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s outreach in the south, often appearing alongside him at major rallies and carrying the party’s message to the grassroots.
The 2021 Tamil Nadu election results were a humbling reality check for the BJP. The party contested 20 seats as part of its alliance with the AIADMK, winning only four, with a vote share of 2.6%. The results of 2021 were better than 2016 on paper, but only that. In 2016, the BJP contested 188 seats alone, winning none, with a vote share of 2.84%; In 2021, it allied itself with the AIADMK, scoring four victories, but actually saw its vote share fall to 2.6%.
State unit chief L Murugan, senior leader H Raja, actor and politician Khushbu Sundar and the then newcomer K Annamalai all lost their contests in 2021.
Annamalai quickly rose to lead the state unit tasked with rebuilding the BJP’s base and expanding its support beyond parts of Kanyakumari and Coimbatore. Analysts pointed out that his headline-grabbing style increased the party’s visibility in a scene long dominated by the two Dravidian parties, DMK and AIADMK.
But the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, in which the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance and the AIADMK-led alliance failed to win a single parliamentary seat in the state, were a setback.
He resigned from his post as state BJP president to bring the AIADMK back into the NDA fold in April 2025. The AIADMK had resigned in 2024 from the BJP-led bloc and blamed Annamalai for calling Dravidian supporters corrupt. Annamalai was against the alliance with the AIADMK but after the reunion he committed to working for the alliance.
This time, he was appointed BJP election in-charge in six constituencies, but he resigned in February. While Annamalai cited his father’s ill health as the reason, people familiar with the matter told HT at the time that the leader was upset about being limited to just six of the 234 seats.
Annamalai had said that he had to stay in Coimbatore district, where his family is stationed, to help his father so that he could not travel on election duty. “I won’t be able to travel much…that’s why you’ll see me more often in Coimbatore,” Annamalai said then.
There were hints that senior BJP leaders might reappoint him to a national role. Home Minister Amit Shah has said on numerous occasions that the BJP will use Annamalai’s organizational skills. Annamalai was a BJP supporter in the municipal elections in Mumbai in January.
The main election contest in the state is expected to be between the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-led secular progressive alliance and the AIADMK-led NDA. However, actor-turned-politician Vijay will look to turn it into a triangular contest.
