Chennai, Apr 4 (PTI) Amidst a buzz over him being not fielded for the April 23 Assembly elections, former Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai on Saturday clarified that he had opted out of the electoral race, and attended a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi here that was described as “casual conversation” by the party.
The party said he was a “disciplined soldier,” even as the former IPS officer said he had decided to campaign for the NDA’s victory.
“I am not in the race or list. In this election, my role is to campaign for the candidates across Tamil Nadu. Right now, the party has given me the responsibility to campaign in Puducherry and Kerala till April 7 and from then till April 23 in Tamil Nadu. This is the responsibility given to me by the party. I will be fulfilling that responsibility,” Annamalai, who flew from Kerala’s Kannur told reporters upon his arrival at the airport here.
Responding to a question on why his name did not figure in the list of BJP candidates, Annamalai said, “I have already informed the core committee in writing that I will not contest from any constituency.” Annamalai had unsuccessfully contested the 2021 elections from Aravakurichi and the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Coimbatore, losing to DMK candidates on both occasions.
BJP leader in charge for Tamil Nadu, Piyush Goyal, said the meeting with the prime minister was a “casual conversation” in which Annamalai also participated.
“Annamalai is a disciplined soldier who expressed a desire to campaign for the NDA candidates’ victory,” Goyal told reporters here.
At the meeting, Goyal said, “we had a casual conversation as we do in the party, among friends. The PM was giving us guidance that we have to work to win in all 234 constituencies together as a family. After that, he left for Kerala.” The Union minister flayed a section of the media for claiming that the BJP had planned a roadshow in Chennai and later cancelled it. “I don’t know who is spreading this canard. I think the DMK has become totally frustrated and they can see defeat before their eyes… I don’t know when the roadshow was planned and cancelled… this is a figment of imagination.” He said the prime minister had come to attend a roadshow in Puducherry and later left for a poll campaign in Kerala. “Chennai is a transit point as there is no airport in the Union territory,” he added.
On Annamalai’s role, Goyal said the party took into consideration those who will contest and who will campaign.
“He (Annamalai) said he will campaign for the NDA. He is a disciplined soldier of the party who desires to campaign for NDA candidates’ victory,” he said.
Goyal stated that he was “extremely happy” with the seat allotment with the AIADMK and remarked that “in elections, you accept certain seats which are your stronghold and convert the weak into good ones. In this election, we selected good seats. We are happy. If you say someone is happy or someone is unhappy, then please talk to us rather than depend on your sources,” Goyal said.
Annamalai, earlier, said: “Even the list of probable candidates sent to the high command for approval did not contain my name. So, it is not that I was denied a ticket. The truth is that I decided not to contest. Since this has become a topic of discussion in the media, I am clarifying it here.” He had also conveyed his decision to Goyal a week ago and had communicated this to national General secretary B L Santosh and BJP chief Nitin Nabin, Annamalai added.
He said he was grateful to the BJP leadership for respecting his decision and giving him an opportunity to campaign in support of the NDA candidates.
Earlier, in the midst of his campaign in north Kerala, Annamalai had said in a post on the social media platform ‘X’ that: “I, as a Karyakarta, will stand shoulder to shoulder and campaign for all our BJP and other NDA candidates, with the aim of the NDA winning 210 seats in the upcoming Assembly elections.” The AIADMK leads the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Tamil Nadu and the the coalition constituents include the BJP and AMMK.
BJP has been allotted 27 seats as part of the seat-sharing deal and party leaders, including BJP state chief Nainar Nagenthran, Mahila Morcha chief Vanathi Srinivasan and former Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararjan are contesting from Sattur, Coimbatore North and Mylapore, respectively.
Elections to 234 Assembly seats will be held on April 23 and the counting of votes will be taken up on May 4. PTI JSP SA
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