CTR Nirmal Kumar, who was formerly the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Tamil Nadu IT cell head, quit the party on Sunday, March 5, and joined its ally in the state, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). He posted a letter on social media announcing his resignation, in which he alleged that the BJP’s leadership (in Tamil Nadu) is working against the interests of its own cadre.
In his resignation letter, Nirmal Kumar also made an indirect reference to the ongoing tussle between himself and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader and state Minister V Senthil Balaji. After Nirmal Kumar made several statement on social media alleging that Senthil Balaji was involved in illegal sale of liquor above the MRP (maximum retail price), the minister had filed a civil suit in the Madras High Court seeking an order to gag Nirmal Kumar and also a payment of Rs 2 crore towards damages.
In November last year, the court issued a gag order restraining Nirmal Kumar from making any defamatory tweets or statements against Senthil Balaji. In his resignation letter, without naming anyone, Nirmal Kumar said that a certain person in the BJP leadership had been “negotiating with the Minister behind the scenes” while Nirmal himself was embroiled in a legal battle with the said Minister.
“After one-and-a-half-years, I am resigning from all posts in the BJP. I worked for the growth of the party without any expectations. It is my responsibility to inform you the reason behind my decision to resign,” Nirmal Kumar said. Seemingly referring to party leadership in the state, he also said that there was nothing more petty than spying on one's own party cadre and treating them like a ‘slipper’ or footwear.
Alleging that the Tamil Nadu BJP was being sold out, Nirmal Kumar said, “I am pained to see that the party cadre and Kamalayalam (the Tamil Nadu BJP office) are being treated like a business and are being sold brick-by-brick. In addition to not respecting the cadres and behaving arrogantly with them, the party is headed towards destruction due to the activities of a certain person who is behaving like he has a mental illness. Not even 20% of what the BJP had in 2019 is remaining now. It is impossible to make a certain person, who is in their own fantasy land with no understanding of ground realities, understand this. Many of us who tried to do so have failed (sic),” he said.
Nirmal Kumar further added that the Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP, as well as the state itself, is in danger because of the party’s state leadership. “How is it possible to travel with a leadership that tries to cheat the cadres who trust them?” he asked.
என்னால் முடிந்த வரை பல சங்கடங்களை கடந்து கடந்த 1.5 ஆண்டுகளாக பயணித்தேன்!
— CTR.Nirmal kumar (@CTR_Nirmalkumar) March 5, 2023
உண்மையாக நேர்மையாக உழைத்தேன், வேதனை மட்டுமே மிச்சம்!
விடைபெறுகிறேன் pic.twitter.com/jcXAtJroid
About an hour after Nirmal Kumar announced his resignation, the AIADMK announced that he had joined the regional party in the presence of its interim general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami.
மாண்புமிகு கழக இடைக்காலப் பொது செயலாளர் திரு. @EPSTamilNadu அவர்களை, அவரது இல்லத்தில் இன்று, பாரதிய ஜனதா கட்சியின் தகவல் தொழில்நுட்பம் மற்றும் சமூக ஊடக பிரிவு மாநில தலைவர் திரு. @CTR_Nirmalkumar அவர்கள் நேரில் சந்தித்து தன்னை கழகத்தின் அடிப்படை உறுப்பினராக இணைத்துக் கொண்டார். pic.twitter.com/tH9G5v8xXD
— AIADMK (@AIADMKOfficial) March 5, 2023