Former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Tamil Nadu unit president K Annamalai’s scheduled visit to the capital on Tuesday has sparked speculation about his possible exit from the party, though he has not made any official announcement about the purpose of his visit.
The visit comes at a time when the parties are finalizing candidates for 27 Rajya Sabha seats (across 11 states), for which elections will be held on June 18. In March, before the last round of Senate elections, there was buzz that Annamalai would be fielded from either Andhra Pradesh or Maharashtra, but that did not happen.
The BJP unit in Tamil Nadu is abuzz with speculation that the former IPS official will visit BJP president Nitin Nabin and Union Home Minister Amit Shah before announcing his next move. There are media reports indicating that he will introduce a new political body even as party leaders refuse to comment.
“He has been at loggerheads with a section of party leaders in the state, and after the recently concluded (assembly) elections, he indicated that he did not agree with the high command’s decision to ally with the AIADMK,” said a state leader, speaking on condition of anonymity. “He has been pressing for the BJP to go alone,” said a state leader, speaking on condition of anonymity.
In the polls that saw actor Vijay’s TVK party sweep the elections, the BJP, which contested 33 of the 235 seats, won one seat, down from the previous four with a vote share of 2.97%. Its ally AIADMK won 47 seats with a vote share of 21.21%.
The leader said that if Annamalai indeed floats a new party, it will be seen as an “anti-BJP” front.
“The BJP and the DMK follow a clearly defined ideology…TVK is the new entrant, which has benefited from anti-incumbency against the DMK and found support among the youth. The new front will be seen as a front against the existing parties including the BJP,” a party official said. There is also no indication that his exit will lead to any mass exodus…”
There are some differences between him and current Tamil Nadu BJP president Nainar Nagendran, people familiar with the details said.
Annamalai resigned from the service to join the BJP in 2020, claiming that he was motivated to join the party after observing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership qualities.
Dubbed ‘Singam’ (after the film), due to his tough police image, he was appointed as the state president in July 2021. However, his tenure was marked by acrimony among leaders in the state unit and a rift with the AIADMK. The allies parted ways in 2023, only to come together before this year’s Assembly elections in the state.
“He always talked about BJP’s expansion, but his rudeness upset some senior leaders in the state unit. He was adamant that the BJP should not remain in alliance with the AIADMK if it wants to carve out its place in state politics, which many leaders did not agree with. Even before the Assembly elections, he reiterated that the BJP should contest alone and double down on its Hindutva agenda,” the leader quoted above said.
