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Annamalai stepped down: Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party President K Annamalai resigned from his post on Friday (April 4). Reports said the party will announce the next president by April 9.
Annamalai wanted to become a firebrand that would disrupt Tamil Nadu politics by making the BJP a major player in the state for the first time. However, during his tenure the party did not get the desired result, i.e., more seats in the state assembly and more members of parliament from the state.
Coming days after the meeting between Edappadi Palaniswamy and Home Minister Amit Shah, Annamalai’s resignation may be the confirmation of the alliance between the All India Anna Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and the BJP a year before the impending polls in Tamil Nadu.
The alliance broke down ahead of the 2024 general elections, resulting in the rival Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) winning all 39 parliamentary seats in the state. Had they been together, they could have garnered enough votes to pose a serious challenge to the DMK-Congress-Communist alliance led by MK Stalin, which won the election by a landslide.
Without this alliance, Tamil Nadu would have seen a five-cornered contest, with the newly-inducted Tamilaga Vetri Kalagam (TVK) led by actor Vijay gaining a significant advantage over its more established rivals.
Vijay, who had declared both DMK and BJP as his targets, now risks losing an alliance partner if AIADMK joins hands with BJP. This will also affect the number of seats Vijay’s party can win in 2026.
Also Read: Political big drama in Tamil Nadu: Amit Shah given big shock to K Annamalai
