Chennai: Tamil Nadu BJP president K. Annamalai confirmed Friday that he was not in the race to become the next state party chief. Sources in the BJP confirmed that there would be a change in the party’s state leadership on 9 April after a visit by Telangana BJP president and Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy and a meeting with party leaders in Chennai.
Speaking to reporters at Coimbatore International Airport, Annamalai said, “In BJP, it is not like people submit their nominations and contest for the state president post. We will unanimously elect a person as the leader. So, where is the question of contesting then? That’s why I said I am not in the competition.”
Speaking to ThePrint on condition of anonymity, a senior leader in state BJP said that they had been informed about the leadership change earlier. “Annamalai opted out of the race, and it is most likely Nainar Nagendran who is set to become the new president of the Tamil Nadu BJP. It is purely because of the caste equation,” they said.
Annamalai comes from the Gounder community, an OBC community dominant in the Western region of Tamil Nadu, while Nainar Nagendran comes from the Mukkulathor, a group of the Kallar, Maravar, and Adamudaiyar castes, a dominant community in the southern region of Tamil Nadu.
The senior leader said that the party was considering the decision to make Nainar Nagendran the president of the party was to strengthen its base in the southern region and to ensure a smooth relationship with the AIADMK. Nainar Nagendran, a MLA from the Tirunelveli constituency, is a former AIADMK leader who joined BJP in August 2017. He is the leader of the BJP legislature party in Tamil Nadu.
The development comes a week after AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami and senior AIADMK leaders met Union Home Minister Amit Shah at his residence in Delhi to revive the ties ahead of the upcoming assembly elections. Tamil Nadu is scheduled to go to the polls next year.
Although AIADMK denies it is in talks with the BJP on record, Shah, speaking at a news summit on 28 March, confirmed that the BJP is in talks with AIADMK to revive its ties in Tamil Nadu.
AIADMK and BJP joined hands after the death of former chief minister J. Jayalalithaa in 2016 and contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and 2021 assembly elections together. However, they broke the ties before the 2024 Lok Sabha election and contested independently.
With AIADMK officially severing its ties with BJP in September 2023, it was Annamalai who first said that his party would go alone in the 2024 and 2026 polls in March 2023.
On Friday, when asked about it, BJP general secretary Rama Sreenivasan said that the national leadership would decide on its Tamil Nadu leadership.
While there were speculations that Annamalai was removed to satisfy the AIADMK, senior leader at AIADMK camp told ThePrint that it was not even in the list of demands.
“We did not ask to change him. We just conveyed this to the national leaders to ensure that Annamalai does not criticise our party leaders, which would backfire on us in the state,” the senior leader from the western region told ThePrint.
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Annamalai opted to stay out
On Friday, in response to questions from reporters, Annamalai said he would not comment on whether the change in leadership was linked to a possible alliance between AIADMK and BJP. He said he would continue to work as a cadre of the party.
Asked if he is being elevated to the Union Minister post, Annamalai said that he will not leave Tamil Nadu.
Sources in Tamil Nadu BJP said that the national leadership’s attempts to retain Annamalai as the BJP president were in vain because he was not keen on the alliance with the AIADMK, which was against the wishes of the national leadership.
“Despite his views against the decision of the national leadership, the leaders convinced him to continue as the state president, suggesting to form a committee to hold talks with the AIADMK, without involving him directly into the process,” another senior leader and a close aide of Annamalai told ThePrint. “However, he was very stubborn to not have an alliance with the AIADMK.”
After EPS met Amit Shah at his residence, Annamalai also went to Delhi and met the national leaders. According to sources, Annamalai gave a detailed report on AIADMK’s declining vote share in the consecutive elections to support his point.
“However, national leadership was firm in having an alliance with AIADMK to make inroads in Tamil Nadu,” Annamalai’s aide said, adding that it is how the life of a karyakarta is.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
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