Chennai, April 4 – Amidst speculation that he would not be fielded in the April 23 Assembly elections, former Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai clarified on Saturday that he had withdrawn from the electoral race and attended a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which the party described as a "casual conversation."
The party stated that he was a "disciplined worker," even as the former IPS officer said he had decided to campaign for the NDA's victory.
"I am not in the race or on the list. My role in these elections is to campaign for candidates across Tamil Nadu. Currently, the party has assigned me the responsibility to campaign in Puducherry and Kerala until April 7, and then in Tamil Nadu until April 23. This is the responsibility given to me by the party. I will fulfill that responsibility," Annamalai, who arrived at the airport here from Kannur in Kerala, told reporters.
Responding to a question on why his name was not on the list of BJP candidates, Annamalai said, "I have already informed the core committee in writing that I will not contest from any constituency."
Annamalai had unsuccessfully contested the 2021 elections from Aravakurichi and the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Coimbatore, losing to DMK candidates in both cases.
Tamil Nadu BJP leader Piyush Goyal said the meeting with the prime minister was a "casual conversation" in which Annamalai also participated.
"Annamalai is a disciplined worker who expressed a desire to campaign for the victory of NDA candidates," Goyal told reporters here.
At the meeting, Goyal said, "we had a casual conversation as we do in the party, among friends. The PM was giving us guidance that we have to work together as a family to win in all 234 constituencies. After that, he left for Kerala."
The Union Minister criticized a section of the media for claiming that the BJP had planned a roadshow in Chennai and later cancelled it. "I don't know who is spreading this misinformation. I think the DMK is frustrated and they can see defeat coming... I don't know when the roadshow was planned and cancelled... this is simply imagination."
He added that the prime minister had come to attend a roadshow in Puducherry and later left for a campaign in Kerala. "Chennai is a transit point as there is no airport in the Union territory," he added.
Regarding Annamalai's role, Goyal said that the party considered both those who would contest and those who would campaign.
"He (Annamalai) said he would campaign for the NDA. He is a disciplined worker of the party who desires to campaign for the victory of NDA candidates," he said.
Goyal stated that he was "extremely happy" with the seat allocation with the AIADMK and remarked that "in elections, you accept certain seats that are your stronghold and convert the weaker ones into strong ones. In this election, we have selected good seats. We are happy. If you say someone is happy or someone is unhappy, then please talk to us rather than relying on your sources," Goyal said.
Annamalai had earlier said: "Even the list of probable candidates sent to the high command for approval did not contain my name. So, it is not that I was denied a ticket. The truth is that I decided not to contest. Since this has become a topic of discussion in the media, I am clarifying it here."
He had also conveyed his decision to Goyal a week ago and had communicated this to national General secretary B L Santosh and BJP chief Nitin Nabin, Annamalai added.
He said he was grateful to the BJP leadership for respecting his decision and giving him an opportunity to campaign in support of the NDA candidates.
Earlier, in the midst of his campaign in north Kerala, Annamalai had said in a post on the social media platform 'X' that: "I, as a Karyakarta, will stand shoulder to shoulder and campaign for all our BJP and other NDA candidates, with the aim of the NDA winning 210 seats in the upcoming Assembly elections."
The AIADMK leads the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Tamil Nadu and the coalition constituents include the BJP and AMMK.
BJP has been allotted 27 seats as part of the seat-sharing deal and party leaders, including BJP state chief Nainar Nagenthran, Mahila Morcha chief Vanathi Srinivasan and former Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan are contesting from Sattur, Coimbatore North and Mylapore, respectively.
Elections to 234 Assembly seats will be held on April 23 and the counting of votes will be taken up on May 4.