Annamalai launches movement ‘to end cult and dynasty politics’ | page 1Chennai: Hours after his resignation was accepted by BJP national president Nitin Nabin on Friday, former BJP state president K Annamalai announced the launch of his political movement that would fight against “cult and dynasty politics” in Tamil Nadu, an apparent reference to TVK and DMK. Annamalai said the movement would evolve into a political party “at an appropriate time”.“Our party will contest the next general election. We have to prepare our volunteers, cadres and leaders for it,” Annamalai said in a video interaction streamed on social media from Delhi. He called upon people to join as volunteers in the movement through the portal ‘We the leader.’ By 11pm on Friday, close to 10.5 lakh people had signed up.The former IPS officer said he would encourage honest and efficient people to participate in the upcoming local body elections. They would be trained at APJ Abdul Kalam Centre of Excellence on Ethics and Politics based in Coimbatore, he said. Later in the evening, he arrived in Chennai to a rousing reception.Several BJP functionaries including state vice president Karu Nagarajan, who announced his resignation from the party, greeted him.Annamalai did not reveal the name or ideology of his proposed party, but outlined its broad contours. His pledge to end cult and dynastic politics suggested that TVK and DMK could be his principal targets. His observation that youngsters are yearning for change, indicated a likely focus on Gen Z voters. Annamalai also said he would treat all political parties, including BJP, equally, signalling that he would not hesitate to criticize his former party. “I will practise dignified politics,” he said.Annamalai venture to dent not just BJP, others too | page 6Chennai: K Annamalai’s resignation from BJP and the launch of a new political movement would harm the saffron party in TN the most, and the impact would be felt by all other parties – in varying degrees.Senior BJP functionaries like state vice-president Karu Nagarajan and Coimbatore south district president K Vasantharajan have announced their resignation from BJP, marking the first wave of exits from BJP. “Annamalai has a special quality and vision, so we support him,” Nagarajan said.BJP is putting on a brave face. “We will not deny his contribution to BJP. But the party is not dependent on one individual. We will have more Annamalais,” said BJP spokesperson Narayanan Tirupathy.In the past few days, posters had come across several parts of the state expressing support for Annamalai.AIADMK which is embattling multiple electoral defeats and an internal strife would be worried too as Annamalai looks to draw heavily from the gounder community which had mostly backed AIADMK. He would also be targeting cadres of DMK and AIADMK who are disheartened by their parties’ poor performance in the assembly polls.Annamalai thinks TVK, too, is not immune to erosion. “Vijay got the votes of people who wanted a change,” said an Annamalai supporter. “And Annamalai is also promising a change.” Sources close to the former BJP state president said he may attract a section of Vijay supporters who get disenchanted with the govt if it continues to be directionless.TVK’s rapid rise has influenced Annamalai’s decision. The election demonstrated that the Dravidian majors were no longer invincible and that voters were willing to back a new political force if it offered a compelling alternative.Political commentator Rajan Kurai says there is a design behind Annamalai’s political project. “The idea could be to polarise voters by projecting Vijay as a Christian CM. But such a strategy is unlikely to succeed in Tamil Nadu,” he said.In the short term, DMK may even welcome the emergence of another opposition force to take on TVK, which could further fragment anti-DMK votes. However, if Annamalai succeeded in creating a formidable regional party, then DMK may have to fight hard to retain its vote base, especially that of youth that it aims to attract.
