Chennai: The long-running factional rivalry between Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) former Tamil Nadu chief K. Annamalai and incumbent president Nainar Nagendran has sharpened over war-room control, social media messaging, and the controversial expulsion of a loyalist.
What began as quiet unease within the state unit has now come out in the open. According to senior functionaries, the immediate trigger was a directive from the BJP brass instructing the Tamil Nadu unit to clamp down on social media posts targeting All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leader Edappadi K. Palaniswami, ot EPS, and senior BJP functionaries, including Nagendran.
According to BJP insiders, the message was conveyed during Nagendran’s recent visit to Delhi, where he met national general secretary (organisation) B.L.Santhosh, national secretary Arvind Menon, and election in-charge Baijayant Panda.
Sources privy to the discussions said Santhosh communicated to Annamalai that his supporters and “war-room boys” must stop posting content against EPS and Nagendran from BJP-linked handles.
“The national leadership wants complete message discipline in Tamil Nadu. No posts that undermine NDA (National Democratic Alliance) partners or contradict alliance positions,” a senior functionary told ThePrint.
However, BJP social media cell president Balaji M.S.told ThePrint that the official IT wing follows the line drawn by the party and “does not over-step an inch”
“Be it Nainar or Annamalai, we are working in coordination with each other and we all follow the party lines. Whatever the differences between the leaders, it is internal and as a party, we are united in the social media platform and we don’t want to be seen as divided because of few people,” Balaji told ThePrint.
Tempers rose when Nagendran expelled Johny Raja, a party worker from Thiruvallur and known supporter of Annamalai, from primary membership. Raja had previously been warned for posts targeting Nagendran and EPS.
A BJP spokesperson told ThePrint that such factionalism is common in any political party. “When Annamalai took charge of the state unit, there were charges that he was sidelining the supporters of former presidents. But, eventually it subsided as everybody put forth the party-first approach. This will also subside and will not affect the party,” the spokesperson said.
பாஜகவின் தீவிர உறுப்பினரை அடிப்படை உறுப்பினரிலிருந்து நீக்கும் அதிகாரம் மாநிலத் தலைவருக்கே கிடையாது.
அதிமுகவில் இருந்து பாஜகவிற்கு வந்ததால், பாஜகவின் சட்டங்கள் மற்றும் நடைமுறைகள் நயினாருக்கு தெரியவில்லை என்பது தெளிவாக தெரிகிறது.
பாஜகவின் By-Law படி, ஒழுங்கு நடவடிக்கை குழுவிற்கே… https://t.co/RGVn04CtIY pic.twitter.com/wEmc9NFL1e
— Johny Bhai(அண்ணாமலையின் வார் ரூம்)🇮🇳 (@Johni_raja) November 29, 2025
Raja contended that the state unit had no authority to remove him as per the party’s constitution. “The state president does not have the power to remove a primary member of the BJP. Since he came from the AIADMK, it is clear that Nainar does not know the BJP’s laws and procedures,” he posted on X.
A former AIADMK cabinet minister, Nagendran had left the party after Jayalalithaa’s death to join the BJP in 2017.
According to the BJP by-law, only the Disciplinary Action Committee has the authority to recommend action. Even if removed, the member has the right to appeal against the decision. Raja also attached pages from the BJP constitution to support his argument.
While Raja said that the rules were violated, a senior leader close to Nagendran maintained the action was taken after prior warnings and in consultation with senior leaders. The state unit led by Nagendran has prepared a list of 18 repeated offenders, who are part of the BJP’s ‘war room’ and have been violating the party lines in the social media platform.
Meanwhile, Annamalai did not attend last week’s high-committee meeting in Kumbakonam. He has been pushing to include former AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam and TTV Dhinakaran of the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) into the NDA fold, a move which was not endorsed by Nagendran after the AIADMK joined the alliance.
A member of the ‘war room’ told ThePrint that the action against the member was to throttle the independent voice of BJP.
“We are not just Annamalai supporters, but also hardcore BJP members and supporters of Modi and Amit Shah. We wanted an independent identity for BJP, but the current leadership is diluting the party like just another Dravidian party,” the war room member told ThePrint.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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