Annamalai Goes To UK For 'Educational Training Programme', BJP Appoints Committee To Work In Tamil Nadu In His Absence

The Tamil Nadu president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) K Annamalai will be out of India for the three months of September, October and November.

To look after the party affairs in the southern state, BJP national president Jagat Prakash Nadda has appointed a committee with H Raja as the convener.

Annamalai will be attending an educational training programme in the United Kingdom for three months, the party said after some voices of dissent against Annamalai emerged within the party.

Raja comes from a Rashtriya Swayamasevak Sangh (RSS) background. Two Tamil Nadu BJP vice presidents M Chakravarthy and Professor P Kanagasabapathi will assist him as members.

The committee has five members in total. The other three are two state general secretaries M Muruganandam and Raama Srinivasan and treasurer S R Sekhar.

The coordination committee has been asked to hold discussions with the State Core Committee and then take decisions about the party activities.

Each member of the Coordination Committee will look after activities in one or two zones as to be decided by Annamalai and Raja, the party press release said.

The BJP could not win a single seat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu, while the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-led alliance won all 39 seats in the state.

However, the BJP was able to increase its vote share by 7.5 per cent points and securing a vote share in double-digit percentage. Annamalai lost the election from Coimbatore.