The race for the Tamil Nadu BJP President has come to an end within a day of incumbent Murugan took charge as the Union Minister. The race was between vice presidents of the state unit - Nainar Nagendran and K Annamalai. While Nagendran was said to be leading the race, the BJP Central leadership had twisted the tale and declared the winner on Thursday. 

Former IPS officer Annamalai has been appointed as the BJP President of Tamil Nadu. The swift appointment had raised many eyebrows within and beyond the party, as it has surprised the party cadres with some had sounded in a fashion of objecting it as Annamalai is not even a one-year-old with the party. 

Outside the party's circle, the political experts say the Central leadership and Modi had aimed to mitigate intense politics between the second line party leaders as causing a delay in appointing the new chief would stir intra-party tensions. Previous party president L Murugan has taken charge as the Union Minister of State on Thursday and hours after he took up his new task, the BJP leadership has finalized his successor. 

It was indeed a quick move by the BJP High Command at the backdrop of making cabinet expansion go in force at the Center. After Murugan went to Delhi as the Union Minister, several Tamil Nadu leaders including KT Raghavan and Pon Radhakrishnan were eyeing the top post with the arm of serving in the party for a long time. However, the Central leadership didn't take much time in finalizing the winner. 

In a press release, 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." According to reports, the BJP hopes that Murugan's induction into the Union Ministry would give ample boost to the party in the state and that it doesn't want to leave the post of the state party chief vacant for more time. 

BJP Central High Command took nearly six months to appoint a successor for Tamilisai Soundarajan to head the Tamil Nadu BJP Unit. L Murugan was appointed as the president of the state unit in March 2020 and now it has taken just a day to appoint Murugan's successor. Annamalai had joined BJP in August 2020 and he was straightaway appointed as the vice president of the state unit. Being a former IPS officer, Annamalai had drawn more attention in the state towards his political entry. 

Being a staunch supporter of Prime Minister Modi, the attention he gained in the state in a shorter time is one of the major reasons why the BJP leadership didn't have a second thought in appointing him as a state president. Annamalai had also contested in the Aravakurichi seat in the 2021 state assembly polls. However, he lost the election, but that didn't bother him in his political growth. The reports say that his statement of 'naturally fit to BJP' and his works in the assembly polls could be another reason for the elevation. 

One of the strongest reasons for Annamalai's elevation would be his close ties in Karnataka and with the state leaders. After joining the BJP, Annamalai has developed a close relationship with the party's central high command particularly with the party's National General Secretary BL Santhosh, who is a native of the Dakshina Kannada region in Karnataka, where Annamalai had worked as an SP. Annamalai also has close ties with the party's Tamil Nadu in-charge CT Ravi, who is also from Karnataka. 

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. 

Annamalai will be in the post of the party's state president for three years and he must lead the party without a major rift in the alliance. He will be assuming the charge at a high time when Tamil Nadu is ahead of local body polls in nine new districts in which the BJP and ADMK should showcase the alliance amid tensions between both the parties on who should be held accountable for the defeat in Tamil Nadu assembly polls. 

One of the major tasks and challenges for Annamalai would be preparing the party for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in the state. Things may change for BJP in the future but the ordeal for the party would remain and would grow in the state unless it fails to speak for the Tamil people. He must also fix the party leaders and supporters to refrain from airing controversial speeches. According to reports, Annamalai would take charge as the BJP state president at 5 pm on Friday at BJP Headquarters Kamalalayam in Chennai. 

Speaking to a news agency, Annamalai said that the BJP in the state is built by generations of leaders and cadres. He said that his primary aim is to continue the good work done by many leaders and to ensure that the efforts and sacrifices of the party cadres won't go in vain. By citing that the party believes that the seven years of rule under Prime Minister Modi has been Tamil-Centric, Annamalai further stated that the party will take the schemes of the government to the people to help them understand the spirit behind every scheme.