The president-designate of the Tamil Nadu BJP unit K Annamalai has invited controversy a day ahead of officially taking charge as the president of the state unit of the Central ruling party. Annamalai, who is the former IPS officer, has recently been appointed as the President of Tamil Nadu BJP unit, succeeding L Murugan, who was inducted into the Union Cabinet when Prime Minister Narendra Modi has carried out a cabinet overhaul. 

For the first time in Tamil Nadu BJP's history, the party has decided to organize a grand reception to Annamalai by breaking the typical ceremony that used to be conducted for the incoming president of the state unit. Annamalai will be officially taking charge as the Tamil Nadu BJP President on July 16 - Friday and the party has organized a massive roadshow for Annamalai for the first time. The roadshow had begun on Wednesday with the blueprint of covering every district in the stretch from his hometown of Coimbatore to Chennai. 

The BJP leaders and cadres had awarded a royal welcome for Annamalai when he arrived at their respective districts en route to Chennai. On Thursday, during the second day of the roadshow and amid sailing on the supporters, Annamalai has invited fresh controversy over his statements that had apparently implied the target of BJP in Tamil Nadu that the party desires to achieve through him. During addressing the supporters, Annamalai has claimed that he can bring the media under control within six months. 

He said, "Within six months you will see that we can control the media and bring them under us. The previous BJP Chief L Murugan is now the Minister for Information and Broadcasting. All media will now come under him. Therefore, false information cannot be spread as news for politics hereafter." His statement had stirred outrage across the state with several activists and political leaders are slamming the former IPS officer for pumping in BJP's propaganda in the state and beginning his stint with an aim of intimidating and suppressing the media. The critics had also said that Annamalai's aim of controlling the media will never get succeeded. 

Annamalai's statement of controlling the media with the help of a Union Minister has become a visible vow and caught with strong castigations from the state political leaders. Tamil Nadu Minister of Information and Technology Mano Thangaraj took to Twitter and wrote, "The statement of Tamil Nadu BJP President Annamalai that the media will function in favour of BJP is an act of threatening the media." "It is strongly condemnable", the minister added. 

Annamalai brings in a long-term plan of BJP in Tamil Nadu and accomplishing Modi's vision in the state ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Annamalai has joined the BJP in August 2020 and straightaway, he was appointed as the vice president of the state unit. Now, after L Murugan was made Union Minister, 37-year-old Annamalai has won the race for the state BJP's top post and become the youngest-ever Tamil Nadu BJP President. Annamalai has started his massive roadshow on Wednesday from Coimbatore.

From Coimbatore, he had visited Palladam, Tirupur, Perundurai, Erode, Sankari, Salem, Namakkal, Paramathi Velur, Karur, and Kulithalai in his first day of the roadshow. He had stayed in Trichy on Wednesday and on Thursday, he resumed his roadshow and visited the places in the stretch from Trichy to Chennai including Perambalur, Veppur, Ulundurper, Villupuram, Vikravandi, Tindivanam, Melmaruvathur, Madurantakam, Chengalpattu, and Guduvancherry. He had reached Tambaram on Thursday and on Friday, he will travel from Tambaram and will reach T Nagar on Friday afternoon.

In what has become the party's efforts to display the growing base of BJP in the state, his massive roadshows from the west to east before assuming the charge had drawn national attention from across the state. He will be given a reception with 'Poorna Kumbham' (a traditional way of welcome) when he arrives at the BJP headquarters Kamalalayam in Chennai. The ceremony will be participated by former state president L Murugan, senior party leaders CT Ravi, P Sudhakar Reddy, Pon Radhakrishnan, L Ganesan, H Raja, CP Radhakrishnan, and BJP legislative party leader Nainar Nagendran.