Former IPS officer K Annamalai is now on the political rise as he has been appointed as the state president of the Tamil Nadu BJP unit. He was appointed to the state's top party post, hours after his predecessor L Murugan was made the Union Minister of State, in the cabinet expansion drive carried out by Prime Minister Modi. 36-year-old Annamalai has become the youngest Tamil Nadu BJP President ever. 

Annamalai had joined BJP in August 2020 and soon after his joining, the party's Central leadership has appointed him as the vice president of the Tamil Nadu BJP unit and now, he has become the BJP president in the state within a year of joining the party. Annamalai was one of the leaders in the state in the race to become the state president and amid having veteran leaders, the BJP central leadership has picked him to lead the party in the state for the next three years. 

However, in appointing him, the BJP leadership has breached the party's policy and guidelines in appointing a state BJP Chief. As per the party's policy, a person can become the state BJP Chief only if he/she holds the party's membership for five years. Some of the veteran leaders had aimed to become the new chief of the party by being served in the party for a long time. However, the leadership has put the policy on air in appointing Annamalai, who is going to mark his first year with the party next month.

While the appointment had surprised the party cadres, the political observers say that Annamalai would face a dissent in the fashion of objecting to the party's decision of appointing Annamalai, who is not even a one-year-old with the party, as the new chief of a crucial state. In a press release on Thursday, BJP National General Secretary Arun Singh said, "BJP National President Hon'ble Shri Jagat Prakash Nadda has appointed Shri K Annamalai, Ex. IPS as State President of Tamil Nadu BJP. This appointment comes into immediate effect."

In finalizing 36-year-old Annamalai, BJP has also aimed to pour more light on the young cadres in Tamil Nadu, where Modi keeps his concentration on the party's growth. Annamalai had served as a 2011 batch IPS officer from the Karnataka cadre and worked as Deputy Commissioner of Police of Bengaluru before resigning from the service in May 2019. He also had worked as Assistant Superintendent of Police, Karkala, Superintendent of Police in Udupi, and later in Chikkamagaluru. He had been an IPS officer for nine years before entering politics. 

Annamalai is a native of Karur in Tamil Nadu and graduated from PSG College, Coimbatore, and from IIM Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. He will be marking his first year with BJP next month and by that time he would be the state president of BJP. The rise of Annamalai in BJP is expected to cause a debate between the veteran party leaders in Tamil Nadu. Besides addressing the intra-party furore, a major challenge for Annamalai would be being Modi's face in Tamil Nadu, the state which opposes Modi's face than BJP.