Amid new party buzz, Annamalai heads to Delhi to meet BJP top brass

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Last updated on: June 02, 2026 01:43 IST

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

IMAGE: BJP leader K. Annamalai (right) during the NDA campaign rally for the Tamil Nadu assembly election, in Dindigul, Tamil Nadu, April 17, 2026. Photograph: ANI Photo

Amid speculations that he was sulking in the BJP and that he may float a new political party, the saffron party leader from Tamil Nadu, K Annamalai, on Monday said he would clarify his stand in two days.

Key Points

  • Notably, the vehicle in which he arrived at the airport did not display a BJP flag, drawing attention amid the ongoing rumours.
  • Annamalai is expected to meet the top BJP leadership in Delhi apparently seeking better position in the party
  • Posters featuring slogans like "Our Leader, Come and Lead Us" have been put up along key roads and streets in the city ahead of Annamalai's birthday on June 4.

Asked about speculations that he may launch a new political party, Annamalai, before leaving for Delhi, told reporters at the airport that he would provide answers and make his stand clear in two days.

"Please wait. We will sit down and talk in two days," he told reporters when pressed about the buzz that he is heading to the national capital to meet party chief Nitin Nabin, as he planned to quit the party.

The former state president's opposition to the recent CBSE's announcement on implementing the three-language policy for Class 9 students from the current academic year, and his demand to roll back the notification, fuelled speculation that he was opposing the Centre as he was getting geared up to launch his own party.

The former IPS official who played a crucial role in roping in TTV Dhinakaran and former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam for the 2021 assembly election has been maintaining a low profile after the party high command replaced him with Nainar Nagenthran and revived the electoral pact with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam ahead of the 2026 assembly election.

 

Though the party members from the Coimbatore region expected him to contest in the 2026 assembly election, he later clarified that he opted out of the race.

However, post poll after the National Democratic Alliance's dream of making the Lotus bloom in large numbers and form the first NDA government in the state was shattered by Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, there were rumblings within the saffron party over the state leadership. The BJP had managed to win only one seat in the recently held election.

A source in the BJP said that Annamalai was unlikely to quit the party as he may be given a bigger role to play.

But some of his supporters in Coimbatore favoured the former state president to float a new party as an alternative to the Tamilalaga Vettri Kazhagam.