Chennai, March 26 BJP leader K Annamalai should contest the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly election and enter the House as a party legislator, BJP Mahila Morcha president Vanathi Srinivasan said on Thursday.
The former state president of the BJP, who unsuccessfully contested from the Aravakurichi constituency in the 2021 election, recently stated that he is not keen to contest the 2026 polls and would instead discharge his duties as a party functionary in election-related work.
Last month, Annamalai said he would step down as the election in-charge for six Assembly constituencies, citing his father’s health.
He was appointed state BJP president in July 2021 after L Murugan’s elevation as a union minister.
He was succeeded by former AIADMK minister Nainar Nagenthran in April 2025, who had joined the BJP in 2017.
"Annamalai should contest in the upcoming election and enter the Assembly. It is my personal wish," Vanathi, who was elected from Coimbatore South in 2021, told reporters here.
She said the BJP’s prospects in the election were "very bright".
The BJP leader also criticised actor-politician Kamal Haasan for announcing that the Makkal Needhi Maiam party would not contest the Assembly election, saying the decision amounted to letting down his party cadres and the people who voted for the party in the 2019 Lok Sabha and 2021 Assembly elections.
The MNM failed to win any of the constituencies it contested.
Haasan had unsuccessfully contested against Vanathi Srinivasan in the previous Assembly election.
"Kamal Haasan has let down his party members and voters in his personal interest to become a Rajya Sabha MP (with DMK's support). The actor is an example of how a leader should not function," Vanathi said, adding that she was happy the people had rejected MNM in the elections.
When a reporter asked if her view applied to actor-politician Vijay heading the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), she replied, "You can draw your own inference."
Responding to DMK leader and Transport Minister S S Sivashankar's criticism dismissing the BJP as a 'NOTA' party, she said the minister was making such remarks because he had nothing to say about his department’s achievements.