Annamalai quit the BJP on Friday, after days of speculation and meetings with top party leaders in Delhi. The 42-year-old former IPS officer who joined the BJP in 2020 spoke of the need to come out of “cult politics” and usher in common man politics in Tamil Nadu, as he announced his Annamalai Makkal Iyakkam (AMI) movement. “I had a difference in opinion,” he said in a video message to supporters. “I had been expressing this to the BJP leaders for 18 months. I told the party on December 4, 2025 that I am going to resign and that they should not think that I’ve made the decision hurriedly. The party asked me to wait till the end of the elections and then leave. As a true cadre, I finished my election work till the end.”
In his resignation letter, Annamalai said national parties never spoke the language that people in Tamil Nadu understood. “I have tried to change this belief and also found reasonable success despite multiple roadblocks, barriers and obstructions from both inside and outside,” he said in the letter dated June 2, and thanked the senior leadership of the BJP for their “unwavering” support.
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Annamalai said he did not want to “burden the top leadership” with his ongoing thoughts on the way forward for “growth-oriented and culturally rooted politics in Tamil Nadu”. “After my conversation with our senior leadership, I have come to the conclusion that our views don’t align regarding Tamil Nadu. After much thought, I believe the time has come for me to step out of the party, reflect on the actual purpose of my entering politics, and sail where the winds take me in future,” he said.
Annamalai was the BJP’s most recognisable face in the state. He has been credited with expanding the national party’s footprint in the southern state.
Tamil Nadu BJP president Nainar Nagenthran, however, said Annamalai’s resignation was “no loss” for the party. “I cannot comment on Annamalai’s resignation. The BJP is not a party that was formed recently. It is an ideology-based party, and there will certainly be no impact from this development,” Nagenthran said. “Anyone is free to start a political party…The allegation that importance is not being given to state-level rights is incorrect,” he said.Also Read | Annamalai begins new political journey after BJP exit, eyes Tamil Nadu Assembly elections
The Andhra Pradesh BJP chief’s stance differed though. “Annamalai has been an important part in our party. This is a small setback. Definitely, he will come back that’s the hope we have,” PVN Madhav said.
Congress leader Karti P Chidambaram said Annamalai’s exit was in the offing for a long time. “Annamalai has realised something which I have always known-that the BJP has very limited acceptance and purchase in Tamil Nadu,” he said. Calling it a ‘gutsy move’, Chidambaram said Annamalai did not come from the Sangh Parivar. “He was only a lateral entrant to the party, and after five years, he has realised that this party has no future in Tamil Nadu, and he himself has had very little success within the party,” he said.
