Buzz grows over Annamalai’s resignation

NEW new delhi: Former chairwoman of the Bharatiya Janata company’s Tamil Nadu building block, K Annamalai, on tues met party chief Nitin Nabin and Union home minister Amit Shah, amid speculation that he has submitted his resignation to the party chief, but there is no confirmation yet on whether it has been accepted.A party leader aware of the details said, even as the party is expected to take a call in the next two days, Annamalai has put forth some demands including being reinstated as party chief in the state.The former IPS official turned politician had joined the party in 2020 after quitting the service to make a political debut.“He has now indicated that he wants to leave the organisation to start his own outfit, which could be political. But he has also shown interest in being given a free hand to run the state unit as the chief. He has conveyed to the high command that he needs a few years to build the party in the state and for that the BJP will have to go with his decisions, such as going solo and reaching out to the youth,” said a party leader.The former police official, who also met BL Santhosh, the national general secretary (organisation), hinted that he wants to start his own outfit, which will be largely apolitical at first but emerge as an alternative to the dravidian parties.“He is of the view that there is space for a new entity as the two regional satraps, the DMK and the AIADMK are no longer favoured on the ground. The Congress and the BJP too have been unable to occupy that space, which is why actor Vijay’s TVK could sweep the elections. He wants to give the youth an alternative,” said the leader quoted above.HT had earlier reported that Annamalai turned down the party’s offer of a Rajya Sabha seat, and also declined induction in the national team.“He is emphatic that he wants to focus on the state,” the leader said. “He was no doubt one of the most popular and well known faces of the BJP in the state, with a clear fan following owing to his speeches and tough-cop image,” the leader said.Annamalai, who did not contest the recent assembly polls, was appointed state president in July 2021 and replaced by Nainar Nagendran in April 2025. Having faced electoral defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and following the party’s poor performance in the state, he went on a three-month academic sabbatical to the United Kingdom, which fuelled speculation that he would be replaced as the party chief.Even as he opted for aggressive outreach and narrative to counter the DMK, he faced opposition both from within a section of leaders in the party and from the AIADMK, the BJP’s ally in TN. Annamalai had on numerous occasions favoured breaking ties with the AIADMK and for the BJP to go alone in the state.