What made Annamalai step down as BJP chief in Tamil Nadu?

Chennai: “Nothing like that. (K) Annamalai is still the Tamil Nadu BJP chief and that is the reason he is sitting next to me,” this is how Union Home Minister Amit Shah responded to a question whether the AIADMK-BJP alliance was announced only after a replacement was found for the former.

But declaring the alliance with Annamalai as the state unit chief technically with Nainar Nagendran set to take over only on Saturday is the only face saver for the BJP. It is no secret that Annamalai stepped down only to facilitate smooth sailing of the AIADMK-BJP alliance for the assembly polls as the former IPS officer and leaders of the Dravidian party don’t enjoy a working relationship with each other.

Nagendran joined the BJP in 2017 in the post-Jayalalithaa era and has been one of the senior leaders of the party and serving as its floor leader in the assembly since 2021. Hailing from Tirunelveli district, Nagendran served as Transport Minister in Jayalalithaa’s cabinet and enjoys excellent rapport with AIADMK leaders which was another reason for the BJP to choose him as Annamalai’s successor.

Sources told DH that Annamalai conveyed to the high command in early March that he would like to be relieved as the party chief if an alliance with the AIADMK was inevitable.

“He has been clear since March 2023 that he would not continue as the head of the state unit if BJP enters into an alliance with AIADMK. And the leadership also decided to replace him as they too believed his continuance in the post will be an irritant in the ties. Nagendran will use his contacts in the AIADMK to ensure that the alliance works on the ground,” a source said.

Besides Annamalai’s reluctance to continue as the chief if the AIADMK was part of the NDA, his belonging to Gounder community from which AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami also hails is another reason for the change. The party felt leaders of both parties coming from the same community could send a wrong signal to other dominant castes, especially Thevars, who have been slowly migrating to rebels like T T V Dhinakaran and O Panneerselvam after having been traditional supporters of AIADMK.

Thevars, who are spread across Central and Southern parts of Tamil Nadu, have been upset that the AIADMK has become a “Gounder party” under Palaniswami and the BJP didn’t want to sustain that narrative, a source told DH. “Nainar will help bust the narrative that the alliance is dominated by Gounders. As a Thevar, he will help consolidate the community votes in favour of the alliance,” the source added.

Annamalai had first made his stand vis-à-vis an alliance with AIADMK in March 2023 at an internal meeting and was the prime force in convincing the high command to cobble up an alliance under the leadership of the BJP in the 2024 polls.

Though the BJP failed to win a single seat under his leadership, the party posted a double-digit vote share in Tamil Nadu for the first time without the support of either the DMK or AIADMK. The alliance garnered an impressive 19 percent vote share, with the BJP alone securing 11 percent.

Annamalai has remained consistent in his attacks on the DMK, the BJP’s ideological adversary, and targeted AIADMK, lumping both Dravidian parties together on issues such as corruption and nepotism.

From the start of his tenure, Annamalai was clear that the BJP could only grow in Tamil Nadu by shedding its dependence on Dravidian parties. While the national leadership agreed with him on this count, they seem to have had no choice but to form an alliance with AIADMK at the cost of its future to achieve its short-term goal of trying to overthrow the DMK dispensation.