Annamalai quits BJP, to form new political movement in Tamil Nadu

Former Tamil Nadu BJP chief Annamalai resigned from the party on Friday, announcing the formation of a new political 'movement'. He stated that his new outfit will contest in the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, citing differing views on the state.

Former Tamil Nadu BJP chief Annamalai on Friday announced that he will form a new political "movement", which will contest in the next Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. The announcement came hours after he resigned from the Bharatiya Janata Party. "Today, we are going to start a movement. Our political party will contest in the next assembly election in Tamil Nadu," he said.

'Great Conflict' Behind Resignation

Annamalai said that he had informed the BJP about his decision before the Tamil Nadu elections. "It was a great conflict whether I am a BJP person or a Tamilian. I told the party on 4th December 2025 that I am going to resign. The party asked me to finish the elections and then go," he said.

Bharatiya Janata Party National President Nitin Nabin accepted Annamalai's resignation from the primary membership of the party today. In his resignation letter, Annamalai thanked the BJP leadership for the unwavering support over the years. He reasoned that different views on Tamil Nadu were behind his decision to step out of the party.

"I thank the senior leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party for your unwavering support for the causes and concerns I have consistently brought to their attention from time to time," he said.

"After my conversations with our senior leadership, I have come to the conclusion that our views don't align regarding Tamil Nadu," he added.

Lead-up to the Announcement

The development comes three days after Annamalai visited New Delhi, where he met with BJP chief Nabin, the party's General Secretary BL Santhosh and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Speculations related to Annamalai starting a new political party grew after the BJP's big loss in the Tamil Nadu assembly elections, where the party managed to secure a mere 3 per cent vote share while contesting on 27 seats in alliance with the AIADMK.

Posters featuring slogans like "Our Leader, Come and Lead Us" have been put up along key roads and streets in Coimbatore ahead of Annamalai's birthday on June 4.

Annamalai gave a major boost to the BJP in Tamil Nadu, where he managed to climb the party's vote share to 11 per cent in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from three per cent. However, the BJP couldn't win a single parliamentary seat.

Due to this and his sour relations with AIADMK, he was replaced by Nainar Nagendran as the Tamil Nadu state chief in 2025.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)