Former Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief K Annamalai, on Tuesday, June 2, informed BJP national party president Nitin Nabin of his decision to resign from the party. It is, however, unclear if the BJP has accepted his resignation.
Annamalai will be starting his own people’s movement/political party within a few months, according to several sources TNM spoke to.
According to a source close to Annamalai, he had become distant from the BJP leadership over the past few months, and with Vijay’s victory in the Assembly elections, he became confident that there was space for one more political party in the state.
A former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, Annamalai served in Karnataka in a high-profile career. He entered politics in 2020 when he was 40. A native of Karur district in Tamil Nadu, he quickly rose through the ranks of the BJP and was appointed the party’s Tamil Nadu president in 2021. He was projected by the BJP as a youthful and assertive leader capable of expanding the party’s footprint in a state long dominated by the Dravidian majors.
But the bonhomie didn’t last too long. Tension increased as the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) walked out of the NDA and its leader Edappadi Palaniswami blamed Annamalai for forcing them to take the decision. In April 2025, Annamalai resigned as party president as Amit Shah brought the AIADMK back into the NDA fold.
Also read an in-depth profile of Annamalai covering his career in Karnataka and his beginnings in Tamil Nadu politics: