K Annamalai Quits BJP; Party Accepts Resignation

New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party National President Nitin Nabin on Friday formally accepted former Tamil Nadu party chief K Annamalai's resignation from the primary membership of the party. The BJP issued a press release on the development. "The National President of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Nitin Nabin, has accepted the resignation submitted by the Tamil Nadu Ex. State President, K. Annamalai, from the primary membership of the Party," said the press release.

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. Meanwhile, Annamalai had yesterday said that he would interact with the public on social media at noon today to share his thoughts and hold what he described as an "open, heart-to-heart conversation." The IPS officer-turned-politican said he was looking forward to interacting with people. In a post on X, Annamalai wrote, "Tomorrow at 12 Noon, I eagerly look forward to interacting with you all on social media to share my thoughts and have an open, heart-to-heart conversation." Speculations related Annamalai starting a new political party grew after 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 BJP in Tamil Nadu, where he managed to climb 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 which he was replaced by Nainar Nagendran as the Tamil Nadu state chief in 2025.