Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president K Annamalai said that the party will send at least 25 elected representatives from the state to Parliament in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. He was speaking at the state executive committee meeting of the BJP, held in Coimbatore on Friday, May 19. Implying that the party will contest more seats than its ally All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) in the upcoming general elections, Annamalai said that the BJP Front, along with alliance parties, will sweep all 39 Parliamentary constituencies in Tamil Nadu. His suggestion of contesting in more seats came at the heel of BJP’s loss in the Karnataka Assembly elections.
Annamalai also stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a lot of love for Tamil Nadu and that the schemes he introduces are made with the needs of the Tamil people in mind. "As PM of the country, he enters his 10th year and he should be a PM for the next five years too," he added.
He said that party workers should decide how many MPs the state BJP is going to send to the Parliament. “2024 is a big test for the party. BJP party cadres will go door to door and meet people. The Lok Sabha elections have started for us today. Work hard beyond success and failure,” he said. "Get rid of thoughts on whether we contest with the alliance or alone, whether we will win or not. Just work towards ensuring BJP victory in the Lok Sabha elections," he said, addressing BJP functionaries in the meeting.
It is to be noted that the BJP contested alone in the 2022 local body elections in Tamil Nadu, securing 5.4% vote share, despite it being in alliance with AIADMK since the 2019 general elections. In the local body elections, BJP secured around 5.4% of the votes.
The state executive committee meeting was held in a private hall in Echanari of Coimbatore. BJP National General Secretary CT Ravi, MLA Nainar Nagendran, and BJP senior leaders H Raja and Pon Radhakrishnan were among those present at the event.