Tamil Nadu polls: Why Annamalai was denied a ticket, Tejasvi Surya explains | India News
NEW DELHI: Hours after the Bharatiya Janata Party dropped K Annamalai from its candidate list for the upcoming elections, party MP from Karnataka bright sun The former Tamil Nadu BJP chief on Friday described the “most popular leader”, claiming that the party held him responsible for campaigning all its candidates.While campaigning for the BJP in the Kerala elections, Surya said, “Annamalai is the most popular leader of the BJP, not only in Tamil Nadu, but commands a large following across the country. He has been entrusted with campaigning for all the candidates in Tamil Nadu.”“Still, he is in Kerala where he enjoys a great following. He is campaigning in Puducherry, where people are crazy about him. I am very confident that Annamalai’s popularity and his campaign across Tamil Nadu will translate into victory for BJP candidates across the state,” he added.Earlier in the day, the BJP released the list of 27 candidates for the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections after talks within the NDA alliance.Tamilisai Sundararajan (Mylapore), Vanathi Srinivasan (Coimbatore North), and Union Minister L. While senior leaders like Murugan (Avinashi) were fielded, Annamalai’s name was nowhere to be found in the list.However, K Annamalai said he would continue to campaign for the upcoming assembly elections despite being absent from the party’s candidate list in Tamil Nadu, calling it his “duty”.Speaking to reporters in Kerala’s Kannur after a public meeting here, Annamalai described campaigning for the BJP in Puducherry, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as his “role” in the upcoming elections.“In this election, my role is to campaign for candidates across Tamil Nadu. Right now, the party has given me the responsibility to campaign in Puducherry and Kerala till April 7 (April). From 7 to 23, I have to campaign for all BJP and NDA candidates across Tamil Nadu. The party has given me this responsibility. I will fulfill that responsibility,” he said.Notably, Annamalai, a former IPS officer, is a key figure in the party’s aggressive expansion strategy in South India. He is often seen as a direct representative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s views, often appearing with him at major rallies.Tamil Nadu will go to polls in a single phase on April 23 covering a total of 234 constituencies in the state. Counting of votes is scheduled on May 4.
