Tamil Nadu: Annamalai said that BJP is a national party and in order to defeat the corrupt DMK government in Tamil Nadu, the party has to make certain decisions.
Tamil Nadu: BJP Tamil Nadu president K Annamalai on Friday (April 4) said that he is not in the race of BJP chief in the state. While addressing the media in Coimbatore, Annamalai said, “There is no contest in Tamil Nadu BJP, we will select a leader unanimously. But I am not in the race. I am not in the BJP state leadership race.”Annamalai mentioned that he will continue to work as an ‘ordinary worker’ of the BJP.
Why K Annamalai resigns from BJP state chief post?
The reason behind Annamalai’s stepping down from the president’s post is related to the growing speculation about an alliance between the BJP and AIADMK for the 2026 Assembly Elections. Recently, former Chief Minister and AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami met with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, sparking rumours that AIADMK may once again be part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the upcoming elections. In the 2021 assembly elections, both parties fought together, which resulted in the BJP winning four seats.
However, before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, AIADMK broke the alliance, accusing Annamalai of insulting their party leaders, and as a result, BJP failed to win a single seat in the 2024 elections, while AIADMK also faced a poor outcome. With the 2026 elections approaching, there is a perceived need for a strong alliance to defeat the ruling DMK-led UPA in the state.
According to sources, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) has made it clear that the alliance cannot proceed with Annamalai as the state president. After considering this, the party made the decision. Following the meeting between Palaniswami and Amit Shah, Annamalai also had a meeting with Shah, during which Shah assured him that the party valued his work highly, but due to the current political situation, some decisions had to be made. Annamalai was told not to worry about these developments.
Annamalai reiterated this today, stating that BJP is a national party and that, in order to defeat the corrupt DMK government in Tamil Nadu, the party has to make certain decisions. An important point to note is that both Palaniswami and Annamalai belong to the Gounder caste and hail from the same region in western Tamil Nadu. This could also be a reason for Annamalai’s potential removal from his position. The party feels that appointing a leader from a different caste could give them an advantage in the elections.
Currently, there is speculation around several names for the president’s post, including Nayanar Nagendran from the Thevar caste, Dalit leader and Union Minister L Murugan, and Tamilisai Soundararajan from the Nadar caste.
