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Tamil Nadu BJP chief Nainar Nagendran on Saturday (June 6) said the party’s central leadership refuses to support or give endorsement to any newly formed movements or political organisations. The statement comes a day after former BJP president for the state, K Annamalai, resigned from the party and formed a new movement by the name of ‘We The Leaders’.
Nagendran refused to admit any duress to the party due to Annamalai’s exit and urged people not to believe rumours, news agency PTI reported.
Also Read I K Annamalai quits BJP after Tamil Nadu elections, to launch own party
Rejecting claims of the party’s setback due to Annamalai’s exit, Nagendran re-emphasised the party’s acceptance of his resignation in accordance with the national leadership’s procedures.
“The BJP is not a personality-driven party but a strong, policy-based organisation, and Annamalai’s resignation will not cause any loss or setback to the Tamil Nadu BJP,” he claimed.
He reinforced the right of people to start their own movements or political parties in a democracy like India, but claimed that Annamalai did not consult the state leadership before taking the decision to start his own movement.
Also Read I ‘Whether I am a BJP person or a Tamilian…’: Annamalai explains ‘great conflict’ behind his exit, announces new party
In addition, he urged party workers to refrain from being brainwashed by rumours and urged them to continue their work without any further discouragement.
Annamalai tendered his resignation from the party earlier this week over claims of a difference in opinion regarding the future of the state. “I had a difference in opinion. I had been expressing this to the BJP leaders for 18 months,” he revealed in a press conference held at the time.
“I told the party on 4 December 2025 that I am going to resign and that they should not think that I’ve made the decision hurriedly. The party asked me to wait till the end of the elections and then leave. As a true cadre, I finished my election work till the end.”
He announced a new political party hours after BJP national president Nitin Nabin accepted his resignation from primary membership of the party. “Today, we are going to start a movement. Our political party will contest in the next assembly election in Tamil Nadu. It was a great conflict whether I am a BJP person or a Tamilian. I told the party on 4th December 2025 that I am going to resign. The party asked me to finish the elections and then go,” Annamalai revealed.
Also Read I Annamalai joined BJP because Rajinikanth didn’t form party: Congress leader
Speculation regarding Annamalai’s resignation had been rife ever since the party’s major loss in the state’s assembly elections where they managed to secure a mere 3 per cent of the vote share while contesting 27 seats in alliance with the AIADMK.
“See, this is something which was in the offing for a long time. Annamalai has realised something which I have always known, that the BJP has very limited acceptance and purchase in Tamil Nadu. And if somebody wants to move ahead in politics, the BJP is not the right vehicle,” Congress leader Karti P Chidambaram said, as reported by ANI.
“It has taken Annamalai five to six years to realise that…It’s a gutsy move; I wish him well…I think he joined the BJP only because Mr. Rajinikanth did not form a party, and Mr. Annamalai doesn’t come from the Sangh Parivar, he’s not from the RSS, and he’s not an ideologue in the Hindutva sense. He was only a lateral entrant to the party, and after five years, he has realised that this party has no future in Tamil Nadu, and he himself has had very little success within the party.”
Annamalai first fielded as a candidate for BJP in the 2021 elections. He is now expected to contest the next assembly elections in the state in five years with his own party.
Stuti Gupta is a Content Producer at Hindustan Times, based in New Delhi, where she is a part of the General News team, tasked with reporting on happenings across the country impacting domestic as well as international ecospheres. In her role at HT, she is responsible for keeping a track of incoming news updates, packaging stories and publishing them in a format best suited to their purpose. She holds a Bachelor’s in Mass Communication and Journalism from St Xavier’s, Mumbai and is partial towards working on international affairs. Apart from her interest in the geopolitical world, she is a keen reader, writer, orator, debater and learner who loves picking up new information. She has been recognized for her previous literary work at the international level with a Gold Finalist, Gold and Silver Award in various participating years at the Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition along with winning the third prize and getting her story published in Children’s World in 2017. Barring academic and professional pursuits, she has a passion for travelling to new places, exploring new cultures and cuisines, documenting them through words and pictures and interacting with people from diverse backgrounds. She is also an avid enthusiast of studying art forms such as cinema, dance, theatre and music as a tool for cultural storytelling and actively participates in them.
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