Annamalai stern on resignation from BJP, to speak out tomorrow

Chennai: Former BJP TN state president K Annamalai would not withdraw his resignation from the party despite senior national leaders asking him to reconsider his decision, sources close to him told TOI. He is expected to meet reporters on Friday to spell out his plans.

Since Monday, Annamalai has been in Delhi, where he met BJP national president Nitin Nabin and submitted his resignation. Later he called on party general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh and Union minister Amit Shah. Sources said the leaders tried to prevail on Annamalai that “he had a bright future in BJP”, but he remained firm on his decision.

“His is not an overnight decision, it was a well thought-out one,” said a source close to the former IPS officer who had been internally arguing against BJP’s alliance with AIADMK in the recent assembly election. “For the past 18 months, he has been struggling to convince the leadership that BJP should chart its own course in Tamil Nadu, but the national leadership wasn’t listening. He took the decision to leave the party and launch one of his own more than three months ago,” said the source.

It was a relatively quiet day for BJP state president Nainar Nagenthran, who was called on Delhi following Annamalai’s resignation. He had a short meeting with agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan on Wednesday afternoon but could not meet the top leaders since Amit Shah had left for Tripura and Nabin was away in Bihar. Annamalai is expected to fly back from Delhi on Thursday which happens to be his 42nd birthday.

BJP sources in Delhi said the leaders offered him a freer hand in TN if he chose to stay back. He is believed to have spoken in detail about his points of differences with seniors in the state unit who have complained about the “unilateral” approach of the former IPS officer who joined the party six years ago.

A staunch critic of DMK and AIADMK, Annamalai felt sidelined in BJP after he was pushed to step down as the state president in April last year as BJP revived its ties with AIADMK after the party drew a blank in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Annamalai argued that though it didn’t win a seat, the party’s vote share had gone up from 3% in 2021 (when it was in alliance with AIADMK) to 11% in 2024 when it contested in the company of PMK, TMC and AMMK.