Feeling Sidelined, Will Annamalai Chart His Own Course?

Will former Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai quit the party and go on a yatra of the state to establish his leadership? A tough choice when the next assembly election in the state is five years away.  Annamalai is meeting with BJP President Nitin Nabin and other senior leaders of the party in New Delhi on June 2 ahead of his birthday (June 4) during which he is likely to submit his resignation.  Initially, it was believed that the former IPS officer was merely flexing muscle and putting pressure on Central leadership to accommodate him in upcoming Rajya Sabha vacancies. With such pressure tactics unlikely to yield results, it is more likely that Annamalai may have to have live up to his promise of mobilising Tamil Nadu youth. Rise of Joseph Vijay may have inspired him to chart his own course; he is much younger than CM Vijay. With both the Dravidian parties battered by TVK – Annamalai will probably be able to rebuild afresh from their debris. Of course, it will be a tough task. Annamalai has kept a low-profile since stepping down as the TN BJP chief to facilitate the party’s alliance with the AIADMK. He has had several run-ins with Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) of AIADMK, and they don’t share a good rapport. AIADMK may have denied Singanallur as EPS did not want Annamalai to contest and emerge as challenger to him in the region. Interestingly both belong to the powerful Gounder community. Annamalai expressed his displeasure over the constituencies allotted to the party. He is believed to have questioned why the BJP agreed to contest in three seats in Pudukkottai district, where it lacks a strong base and asked why strong efforts were not taken to get seats in western Tamil Nadu, where it has a base.