TVK's rapid rise influenced Annamalai's BJP exit? Leader may tap disenchanted Vijay voters

CHENNAI: K Annamalai's resignation from BJP and the launch of a new political movement would harm the saffron party in TN the most, and the impact would be felt by all other parties - in varying degrees.

Senior BJP functionaries like state vice-president Karu Nagarajan and Coimbatore south district president K Vasantharajan have announced their resignation from BJP, marking the first wave of exits from BJP. "Annamalai has a special quality and vision, so we support him," Nagarajan said.

BJP is putting on a brave face. "We will not deny his contribution to BJP. But the party is not dependent on one individual. We will have more Annamalais,'' said BJP spokesperson Narayanan Tirupathy.

In the past few days, posters had come across several parts of the state expressing support for Annamalai.

AIADMK which is embattling multiple electoral defeats and an internal strife would be worried too as Annamalai looks to draw heavily from the gounder community which had mostly backed AIADMK. He would also be targeting cadres of DMK and AIADMK who are disheartened by their parties' poor performance in the assembly polls.

Annamalai thinks TVK, too, is not immune to erosion. "Vijay got the votes of people who wanted a change," said an Annamalai supporter. "And Annamalai is also promising a change." Sources close to the former BJP state president said he may attract a section of Vijay supporters who get disenchanted with the govt if it continues to be directionless.

TVK's rapid rise has influenced Annamalai's decision. The election demonstrated that the Dravidian majors were no longer invincible and that voters were willing to back a new political force if it offered a compelling alternative.

Political commentator Rajan Kurai says there is a design behind Annamalai's political project. "The idea could be to polarise voters by projecting Vijay as a Christian CM. But such a strategy is unlikely to succeed in Tamil Nadu," he said.

In the short term, DMK may even welcome the emergence of another opposition force to take on TVK, which could further fragment anti-DMK votes. However, if Annamalai succeeded in creating a formidable regional party, then DMK may have to fight hard to retain its vote base, especially that of youth that it aims to attract.