Annamalai namesake and Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate shrugs off row

The 71-year-old Annamalai Agambaram is a four-time corporator and Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate from ward No. 162, which covers areas like Saki Naka and Jarimari

Mumbai: As Tamil Nadu BJP vice-president K Annamalai’s remarks on Mumbai’s identity triggered a political storm ahead of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, someone who is certainly not amused with the whole controversy is Annamalai. Or, Annamalai Agambaram, to be precise.

iMumbai, India - January 13, 2026: UBT Candidate Annamalai at Jarimari in Mumbai, India, on Tuesday, January 13, 2025. (Photo by Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

The 71-year-old namesake of the BJP leader is a four-time corporator and Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate from ward No. 162, which covers areas like Saki Naka and Jarimari. While he said the controversy hasn’t had much of an impact in his ward at the ground level, he feels such statements create unnecessary tensions that could result in slight electoral shifts.

The controversy erupted last week when the BJP’s firebrand Tamil leader Annamalai, campaigning for the party in Mumbai, said, “Bombay is not a Maharashtra city; it is an international city.”

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray responded by reviving a controversial Shiv Sena slogan from the 1960s targeting south Indians, and alleged that Annamalai’s remark was part of a larger BJP conspiracy to separate Mumbai from Maharashtra. The BJP, meanwhile, attempted to downplay the controversy, saying that Annamalai’s comments were misconstrued.

The entire row did not amuse Annamalai Agambaram, who has previously contested the BMC elections as an independent, on a Congress ticket twice and also as a Shiv Sena candidate in 2017. He believes that bringing K Annamalai to campaign in Mumbai, home to a sizeable Tamil population, was “an unnecessary propaganda campaign” by the BJP.

“Yes, it’s a fact that the Shiv Sena was founded with an anti-Tamil campaign, but it’s also a fact that the ground reality is much different today,” he said. “I have been part of the Shiv Sena since 2016 and also head its units in all south Indian states. It’s upsetting to see the BJP get its leaders from Tamil Nadu here, who have no understanding of how things work locally. Things are quite amicable on the ground, and raking up old issues creates unnecessary tensions, which could result in slight electoral shifts.”

He added that much water has flown under the bridge since 1973, when he first came to Mumbai and worked with Air India. The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader claimed that he has the support of over 50% of Muslims and people from other communities in his constituency. “In fact, Tamilians have a negligible presence in my ward thanks to large-scale shifts out of this locality.”

Local residents echoed his assessment. Harry George, a Tamil-speaking Jarimari resident, said, “The BJP hasn’t done anything for Tamilians. Our demand for additional trains to Tamil Nadu and a Tamil Bhavan in Mumbai hasn’t been addressed by the BJP.”

Another Tamil-speaking resident, Nigel Chettiar, said that such “deliberate propaganda” before the elections will not work with young voters. “This generation has no memories of those days of friction. Annamalai and the BJP command no electoral strength back in Tamil Nadu, and their propaganda is unlikely to change things on the ground here,” he said.