K Annamalai quits BJP, blames alliance politics for party's decline in Tamil Nadu

Former Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai has officially resigned from the primary membership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). BJP National President Nitin Nabin has accepted the resignation.

According to top party sources cited by news agency PTI, Annamalai met with Nabin in New Delhi to submit a formal, five-page resignation letter alongside a detailed report analysing the party's performance. Despite last-minute efforts by the central leadership to persuade him to reconsider, including high-level discussions with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Annamalai remained firm on his decision to walk out.

Ideological rift over AIADMK alliance

Insiders reveal that the split was triggered by deep strategic differences between Annamalai and the BJP central command regarding Tamil Nadu's political trajectory following the 2026 Assembly elections.

Annamalai had fiercely advocated for the BJP to independentally build its own organisational base in the state, fiercely attacking Dravidian politics. However, the national leadership chose to revive its alliance with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) for the elections, a move that effectively sidelined Annamalai and led to him stepping away from election campaign duties in several constituencies.

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In the report submitted to BJP president Nitin Nabin, Annamalai reportedly argued that the alliance strategy came at a significant electoral cost. According to him, the BJP's vote share in Tamil Nadu fell sharply from a record 11.38 per cent in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, which the party contested independently under his leadership, to just 3 per cent in the recent Assembly polls.

The party's strength in the state assembly dropped from four seats in 2021 to just one seat.

The final straw reportedly came when Annamalai publicly broke party lines to criticse a Union government policy rendering a three-language formula compulsory for Class IX CBSE students, a highly sensitive regional issue in Tamil Nadu.