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Ex-IPS officer, ‘Singham’ Annamalai, is BJP’s new chief in Tamil Nadu
The BJP hopes that 37-year-old K Annamalai will draw in more youngsters ahead of the local body elections slated later in the year.
Chennai: Former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer K Annamalai, 37, was appointed on Thursday as the new BJP chief of Tamil Nadu, succeeding L Murugan who was inducted into the Union cabinet.
Murugan has been appointed as Union minister of state for fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying, and information and broadcasting. His elevation is seen as a reward for his work as party chief in the southern state where the BJP won four seats in the recently held assembly elections. The last time the BJP had four lawmakers in the assembly was in 2001 when the party fought in alliance with the DMK. In the next three elections in 2006, 2011 and 2016, the BJP couldn’t win a single seat.
To be sure, neither Murugan nor Annamalai won the seats that they contested from; Murugan from Dharmapuram and Annamalai from Aravakurichi.
Annamalai, a Karnataka cadre IPS officer, resigned from service in 2019 and joined the BJP last year. “He will be a youth icon,” said BJP vice-president K S Narendran. “He has shown that he is a strict and a good administrator as an IPS officer. He left the services at a young age and joined us because of his nationalities ideals. He has a long-term vision.”
Annamalai was Deputy Commissioner of Police (Bengaluru South) in 2019 when the 2011 batch IPS quit the civil services. By then, he was already known as Karnataka’s ‘Singham’, a sobriquet for a tough cop. K Annamalai had hit the headlines for his role in tackling the 2017 riots in Karnataka’s Chikmagalur and there were protests in the district when he was eventually transferred out.
The BJP hopes that the 37-year-old will draw in more youngsters ahead of the local body elections slated later in the year. Since 2019, he is the third leader to take charge of the BJP’s top post in Tamil Nadu. Murugan took over as BJP chief six months after his predecessor Tamilisai Soundararajan was made Telangana governor.
Before his appointment as BJP state president in March 2020, Murugan was the national SC/ST commission vice-president and practised law in the Madras high court for 15 years. The Dalit leader hasn’t had any success in elections though. He lost his first election in 2006 from the Sankari constituency and this year, he lost from Dharapuram, a seat reserved for Scheduled Castes. Prime Minister Narendra Modi campaigned for him.
Murugan joined the ABVP during his college days. As state coordinator for the BJP’s SC Morcha wing, he was associated with President Ramnath Kovind who was then the national coordinator. Speaking to reporters in Delhi, Murugan on Thursday said he will work towards the development of Tamil Nadu’s education and culture. “I will work towards making Tamil Nadu the foremost state,” he said.
During the short time that he led the party, Murugan brought in several known faces to the party such as Ananmalai, VP Duraisamy who was DMK’s deputy general secretary, Ku Ka Selvam, actor-political Khushboo Sundar and several Tamil film personalities. The party’s old guard in the state did have reservations about some of these inductions but there is acknowledgement that these helped the BJP stay in the limelight in Tamil Nadu.
Murugan sought to consolidate the BJP’s support base by picking up the vel (spear) carried by the Lord Murugan deity and launching the vetrivel yatra (victorious spear march) in November 2020 to tour the state. Nagendran, who was in-charge of the yatra, said the national leadership was impressed with Murugan’s commitment during his yatra when Murugan kept his attacks singularly focussed on MK Stalin-led DMK. Although the public response was tepid, the BJP captured headlines with the yatra when it was denied permission and its activists courted arrest. During campaigning, it became the BJP’s war cry with Modi, Amit Shah and several national leaders starting their rallies with the slogan ‘vetrivel veeravel’ (victorious spear, courageous spear).
Experts suggest these two appointments also helped the BJP give representation to different communities and consolidate support among these castes. VP Duraisamy, who shifted from the DMK to BJP last year, said Murugan’s elevation does send a message. “He is the first Arunthathiyar from Tamil Nadu to be a union minister. People will show their gratitude for this towards the BJP in the future,” says Duraisamy.
“It can also be viewed as a safe and honorable exit for Murugan to pave the way for Mr Annamalai. Tamizhisai was similarly given such an honourable exit,” said political commentator Sriram Seshadri.
