The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday declared 27 of its candidates for the upcoming assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, fielding many heavyweights, including party's state unit chief Nainar Nagendran, Union Minister L Murugan, Tamilisai Soundararajan and others. However, K Annamalai's name did not feature in the list.
It was widely expected that the saffron party will field 41-year-old Annamalai, who was BJP's Tamil Nadu unit chief from July 2021 to April 2025, in the assembly poll. However, at the end, the party did not decide to field him. When asked to Nagendran about Annamalai's omission, he said the decision was taken by party top brass.
"A list of 27 candidates has been released by the BJP High Command... All the 27 candidates will surely win this time... This is a decision from the high command," the Tamil Nadu BJP president told news agency ANI.
All not well between Annamalai, BJP?
Various media reports had earlier claimed that Annamalai was not happy with the seat-sharing pact between the BJP and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). He had also wrote a letter to the BJP leadership, expressing his displeasure over the seat-sharing pact. It is worth mentioning that the AIADMK and the BJP are contesting on 169 and 27 seats, respectively, as per their deal.
In total, the BJP will field candidates in 33 constituencies with its lotus symbol. AC Shanmugam-led Puthiya Needhi Katchi (PNK) will field one candidate on BJP symbol. The Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar) will also contest on five seats on BJP symbol. Along with this, Tamizhaga Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (TMMK) and South Indian Forward Bloc (SIFB) will also field one candidate each on BJP symbol.
It should also be mentioned here that Annamalai was never a supporter of BJP's alliance with the AIADMK, and reports had even claimed that Edappadi K Palaniswami had put forth this condition for his party's return to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) that the former IPS officer must be removed as the saffron party's Tamil Nadu chief.
Reports have also claimed that Annamalai, who was widely expected to lead BJP's poll campaign for Tamil Nadu, is not happy with Nagendran's leadership. In February, he also stepped down as BJP's in-charge for six assembly seats, citing father's ill health. Though Annamalai has repeatedly clarified that he is ready to work as a simple party worker in the BJP.
In the 2021 Tamil Nadu polls, Annamalai contested unsuccessfully from the Aravakurichi assembly seat, losing to DMK leader R Elango by a margin of around 24,000 votes.
The 2026 Tamil Nadu polls
As per the seat-sharing deal of the NDA, the AIADMK has received the lion's share of 169 seats. The BJP will contest on 27 seats, the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) on 18, and the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) on 11. The NDA is looking to regain the power in the coastal seat after losing to the DMK combine in the 2021 assembly polls.
This year, elections to the 234-member Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly will take place in a single phase on April 23. The counting of votes will take place on May 4.
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