Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Nainar Nagenthiran is set to become the party’s next state president. The move is an attempt to recalibrate the BJP’s political strategy in Tamil Nadu. The 64-year-old leader, who was formerly with the AIADMK, was the sole nominee for the post. His appointment was confirmed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in a statement.
“The Tamil Nadu BJP has received a nomination for the post of state president only from Shri @NainarBJP Ji,” Shah said, while also lauding the outgoing president K Annamalai for his tenure. He praised Annamalai’s efforts in taking Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s policies to the grassroots and affirmed that the party would now tap into his organisational skills at the national level.
Nagenthiran’s elevation comes at a time when the BJP is entering into an alliance with the AIADMK—its estranged ally in the state. His background as a former AIADMK minister and MLA from Tirunelveli makes the timing of the appointment politically significant. He hails from the influential Maravar community categorised under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) in Tamil Nadu, under the Mukkulathor community. Nainar is the first BJP state president from the Thevar caste.
The announcement was made officially by BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh at the party’s state headquarters in Chennai. Chugh revealed that Nagenthiran’s nomination had been proposed by key BJP leaders in Tamil Nadu, including K Annamalai, L Murugan, Pon Radhakrishnan, H Raja, and Vanathi Srinivasan.
Nagenthiran began his legislative career in 2001 when he was elected to the Tamil Nadu Assembly from Tirunelveli. Under Jayalalithaa’s leadership, he held key portfolios including Transport, Industries, and Electricity. He returned to the Assembly in 2011 but was not inducted into the cabinet. Narrow defeats in the 2006 and 2016 elections kept him out of the House, but he made a comeback in 2021—this time on a BJP ticket.
Nagenthiran joined the BJP in August 2017, months after Jayalalithaa’s demise, and currently serves as the Legislature Party Leader in the Assembly. Though he contested the 2019 and 2024 general elections from Ramanathapuram and Tirunelveli respectively, he did not secure a win in either.