Annamalai quits BJP, launches new party ahead of Tamil Nadu polls

Former Tamil Nadu BJP president K. Annamalai has formally parted ways with the Bharatiya Janata Party and launched a new political outfit, ‘We the Leaders’, signalling the beginning of an independent political journey ahead of the next assembly elections in the state.

In a video message released on Friday, Annamalai announced that both he and his newly formed party would contest the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly polls, marking a significant development in the state's political landscape.

The former IPS officer said his decision was driven by a desire to continue pursuing the mission that had first brought him into public life. He stated that while he joined the BJP with the aim of contributing to positive change in Tamil Nadu, he now believed a different political path was necessary to achieve that objective.

Annamalai revealed that he had informed the BJP leadership of his intention to leave the party as early as December 2025. According to him, senior leaders had requested that he remain associated with the party until the completion of the Tamil Nadu Assembly election process.

While expressing admiration for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Annamalai acknowledged that he had disagreed with the BJP on several matters over the past year and a half.

Among the key differences was his long-held view that the BJP should have contested the Tamil Nadu elections independently rather than entering into an alliance with the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. He suggested that the party's electoral strategy had become a point of divergence between him and the leadership.

"I did not want to become a problem for the party," Annamalai said, explaining his decision to step away and chart a separate course.

Introducing his new platform, ‘We the Leaders’, he described his political journey as a "solo battle" and said the organisation would focus on issues affecting ordinary people while remaining rooted in Tamil Nadu's identity and aspirations.

Annamalai argued that national parties often struggle to fully understand the sentiments and expectations of the state's electorate. He said his new venture would seek to offer a people-centric political alternative focused on public welfare and governance.

The former BJP leader also criticised what he described as personality-driven and dynastic politics. In remarks aimed at the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, he said politics should not revolve around a single family and called for a shift towards leadership based on public service rather than political lineage.

He further claimed that several prominent figures, including Rajinikanth, had encouraged him to join their political initiatives in the past, but he had chosen instead to build an independent platform.

The BJP formally accepted Annamalai's resignation from the party's primary membership on Friday. The move comes months after he stepped down from party positions amid disagreements over the BJP's alliance strategy in Tamil Nadu.

Despite relinquishing organisational responsibilities, Annamalai remained active in election campaigning and continued to be one of the BJP's most recognisable faces in the state.

A former Karnataka-cadre IPS officer, Annamalai resigned from the Indian Police Service in 2019 before entering politics. He joined the BJP in 2020 and rapidly emerged as one of the party's most prominent leaders in southern India, becoming Tamil Nadu BJP president within a year and spearheading the party's efforts to expand its footprint in the state.

His decision to launch a separate political outfit is expected to reshape electoral equations in Tamil Nadu and add a new dimension to the state's already competitive political arena.

With IANS inputs