Annamalai and the art of political gymnastics

Annamalai Kuppusamy, the Tamil face of India’s largest Hindu nationalist party, once had a reputation in Karnataka as a super-cop who didn’t hesitate to book Hindutva vigilantes.In January 2018, the communally sensitive district of Chikkamagaluru was simmering with tension after right-wing extremists spread propaganda that a Hindu teen had been harassed to death by her alleged Muslim lover. Annamalai, who was then the Superintendent of Police (SP), didn’t let the pressure get to his men and their investigation threw up evidence that flipped the case on its head. They found a suicide note written by the young woman stating that she had been harassed by Bajrang Dal activists. This discovery was followed by an instant police crackdown.The same supercop appeared to have transformed entirely when another suicide unfolded in Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu in the year 2022.In this deep profile, Shabbir Ahmed and Prajwal Bhat look at Annamalai's changing stances, his ambitions, and why he's a politician to watch out for..Annamalai was now the president of the Tamil Nadu unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a rising star on the national horizon. The case involved the death by suicide of a Hindu girl who was studying in a Catholic residential school.This time, the former police officer joined hands with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) to politicise the incident by claiming the girl was harassed by the missionaries to convert. A cloud of disinformation surrounded the case and instead of calming tempers, Annamalai pushed ahead brazenly in an attempt to polarise the state.The contrasting responses from Annamalai, tailored towards the sentiments of his audiences, offer a window into his arrival and growth in politics. Annamalai’s ability to adapt has been evident years before he quit the civil services for a career in politics.‘Big political ambitions’Siva Senthil Kumar was born on June 4,1984 into a family of farmers from the electorally powerful Kongu Vellalar Gounder community in Thottampatti village in Karur, Tamil Nadu. When he reached Class 10, his name was changed to ‘Annamalai’ in memory of his great grandfather.Recalling this episode during an interview with Daijiworld Media in January 2020, months before he joined the BJP, Annamalai said, “I am one of the lucky people who got to choose his own name.” The school authorities refused to accommodate the full name the family had planned for the young Annamalai – Annamalai Siva Senthil Kumar – saying they would run out of space on the certificate.Asked for his choice, the young boy promptly picked Annamalai. “It is the name of the angry incarnation of lord Shiva,” he said in that interview, which went viral because it was the time people wanted to know which state and political party the ex-cop would choose.His ideology was a topic of hot speculation throughout the nine years he spent in the politically sensitive Malnad region, which comprises coastal Karnataka and parts of the Western Ghats. The Left was suspicious of him even though he took a special interest in hunting down right-wing activists who indulged in cow vigilantism and moral policing. And the right-wing seemed to adore him even though their cadres bore the brunt of his much-publicised crackdowns.When he resigned from the civil services, speculation about his political leanings grew even though he maintained during this period that he was an “unabashed” fan of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In the 15 months that he took to decide on a party, he remained in the news as he went around the country on multiple lecture tours, met leaders across the political spectrum, wrote think pieces in the press, and appeared on chat shows.His skill in dealing with journalists was on display during the Daijiworld interview, which appeared just months ahead of his formal move to the BJP. The anchor, a seasoned Kannada journalist from the coast, tried multiple ways to make Annamalai reveal which party he was planning to join..It was a strange interview because his ideological sympathies were clear as day but he kept refusing to name the political party whose lines he was spouting. He reiterated that he was an “unabashed fan” of PM Modi and defended the BJP’s stand on the proposed Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) against which protests were raging across the country at the time.Almost as if he was trying to deliberately confuse the audience, he threw in a few seemingly secular caveats. He said he was worried about the spread of fake news and also claimed that one of the reasons he quit the force was the sudden death of IPS officer Madhukar Shetty in 2018. It was a surprising name to throw considering that Shetty, also a very popular officer, was an ‘unabashed’ Leftist.Those who observed Annamalai very closely during his civil services days recalled that he had big political ambitions. An officer who has interacted with Annamalai in the past told TNM, “Politics was set in his mind at a very early age. He was ambitious… in fact, he used to say that he wanted to move to the next level.”.While it may seem now that he always had his eyes set on the saffron party, those close to him reveal that Annamalai was torn between the BJP and its polar opposite, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). Actor Vijayakanth’s DMDK and Rajinikanth, another star who was then planning his political entry, were also interested in Annamalai..One of the people Annamalai held a discussion with described the options that the ex-IPS officer was contemplating as strange: “He was considering the BJP and DMK at the same time. These parties don’t meet ideologically at all. Even if someone was torn between DMK, Congress or DMDK, it was understandable.”Some sources said that the Dravidian parties were reluctant to have him and others said that he saw no role for himself in parties that already had established stars. The BJP, however, was keen on him for a long time and appointed him Vice President of the state unit the moment he joined the party in August 2020. Those TNM spoke to said BL Santhosh, the influential National General Secretary (Organisation), intervened personally to push for his appointment, brushing aside resistance from senior leaders of the Tamil Nadu BJP.Two months after DMK chief MK Stalin took over as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in May 2021, to the surprise of many, the BJP high command promoted Annamalai to the position of state president. A BJP leader told TNM that Annamalai was given specific instructions to disrupt the status quo and to take on the Dravidian majors. “He is a knight who has been sent to fight,” the leader said.Another senior BJP functionary said that the decision to elevate Annamalai as party president was also taken by BL Santhosh, disregarding the party by-laws. “A person has to be an active member of the party for a minimum of 10 years. When L Murugan was appointed as the state president, the high command sought our opinion. The present BJP Legislative Party leader Nainar Nagenderan was one of the contenders, but he lost the race because he was not a primary member of the party for 10 years. In Annamalai’s case, no consultation was held, it was BL Santhosh who decided his appointment,” the functionary said..While the BJP is nowhere close to forming a government in the state, the party is preparing itself for a future without the ageing leaders who currently dominate Tamil politics. Annamalai is the BJP’s centrepiece in this preparation.The appointment of the then 37-year-old as party president marked a break from its tradition of appointing senior leaders as party presidents, a majority of whom have been Brahmin men. The arrival of Annamalai – a man from an electorally significant community classified as Backward Caste (BC) in the state – was seen as a refreshing change by many grassroots workers and they turned up spontaneously in large numbers when he first visited the party headquarters at Kamalayalam in Chennai to take charge in July 2021.Flanked by four former state presidents – L Ganesan, CP Radhakrishnan, Pon Radhakrishnan, L Murugan – and the then Tamil Nadu in-charge CT Ravi, Annamalai told the media that he considers the state BJP president post not a position but sees himself as a ‘sevak’ (servant). “Like other political parties, this party is not run by one family and one leader. Decisions will be taken after consulting senior leaders, I will also accommodate all the leaders and we will take a decision like a family.”The party has continued to shine the limelight on him since then and he was even made the election co-in-charge during the recent Karnataka Assembly elections, which the BJP went on to lose.But as Annamalai enters his third year as the state party chief, the hope and enthusiasm of his appointment appears to have gradually waned and given way to disappointment for many within the BJP. A senior party leader confided to TNM that those who had initially supported the young face are now distancing themselves from him. “Annamalai has the knack of turning his supporters into enemies,” the leader said. Udupi’s ‘Singam’ BL Santhosh is believed to have spotted Annamalai during his career as a police officer in Karnataka where he had become wildly popular in his nine years of service. In 2015, he got his first major posting as the Superintendent of Police (SP) of the communally sensitive Udupi district in coastal Karnataka.“Annamalai had a strict schedule and would turn up for work early. His day would also have physical activities like badminton,” recalled a police officer who worked under him in Udupi. “He kept himself busy, not just with police work but also in frequently appearing at public events and addressing school and college students,” the police officer adds.In June 2015, just a few months into his tenure as Udupi SP, Annamalai found himself facing a major agitation by BJP leaders following the rape and murder of a pre-university student who was a Hindu.Sangh activists alleged that the murderer was a Muslim man. “Annamalai was at the centre of the protest speaking to the local BJP leaders and seeking time to investigate,” said a police officer in Udupi who was involved in the investigation. Pressure built as local media ran stories naming a young Muslim man as the perpetrator and speculated whether there would be riots if he was not arrested. A few days later, two residents from the girl’s locality – Sunil and Akshay – were arrested for her murder.Following the arrest, Annamalai started a scholarship in the deceased teenager’s name, giving Rs 10,000 to the girl student who topped the class 10 exam in Byndoor taluk. The arrests instantly deflated the Sangh campaign. But the police case eventually fell through after the Udupi district court found in 2022 that the site of crime wasn’t properly investigated. “The court highlighted that the blood samples and other evidence material was not collected from the crime scene. This proved to be crucial for the defence and the two accused of the crime were acquitted,” the special public prosecutor in the case said. Critics point to the case to argue that Annamalai was not an extraordinary investigator but a very good judge of the political situation.He quickly came to be called ‘Singam’ in a reference to the title character in the Tamil action film series starring Suriya, an honest police officer who aims to eliminate corruption from society.A key reason for Annamalai’s popularity was his drive to implement stringent rules in the student town of Manipal where he cracked down on late night parties and free movement of students. A night curfew was imposed, with bars and restaurants forcibly closed and students asked to identify and explain themselves if they were stopped by the police after midnight. While the students saw it as a moralistic curb, the move thrilled conservatives in the region.A former police officer who worked under Annamalai said that his image as Singam was amplified by a set of officers loyal to him. “The living and working conditions of police officers and constables were very poor in Udupi. They often lived in police quarters with leaking roofs and broken doors. Annamalai helped many of them get better living quarters or assisted their children in getting into good schools,” the former officer said. And these officers quickly became ambassadors who spread stories of Annamalai, many times embellishing his achievements.Confronting the Sangh Parivar in Chikkamagaluru By the time Annamalai was transferred to Chikkamagaluru in 2016, he had become one of the most visible officers in the Karnataka police department, particularly for his efforts to promote communal harmony. “The police force needed someone like him who had innovative ideas to reform the force. People from all walks of life were trusting him since he was easily approachable,” said Satish Acharya, a cartoonist who has worked closely with Annamalai.In an experiment that earned praise, Annamalai instructed the Chikkamagaluru police to put up posters of cartoons by Satish Acharya promoting communal harmony in the run-up to Datta Jayanthi in December 2017. The annual pilgrimage was started by Hindutva organisations in the year 1997 to challenge the syncretic practices in the Sufi hill shrine of Baba Budangiri..The Hindu right-wing in Karnataka, led by BJP leaders like CT Ravi, was striving to take control of the shrine worshipped by both Hindus and Muslims. “Both of us were brutally trolled by the BJP IT cell at the time,” recalled Satish Acharya.Baba Budangiri is often called the ‘Ayodhya of the South’; the conflict for the shrine in the communally sensitive Chikkamagaluru has been a violent one. While Hindu groups claim that it is the final resting place of Lord Dattatreya, Sufis claim it to be the dargah of Baba Budan, who was one of the earlier mendicants to spread the faith in the subcontinent. Baba Budan is also credited with bringing coffee to South Asia by planting the first beans in Chikkamagaluru.But Baba Budangiri was not the first big operation that Annamalai handled in the district. The reason he was transferred to Chikkamagaluru was to deal with the fallout of the suicide of a Deputy Superintendent of Police.Officers recalled that his first instruction to them was to investigate and root out a group involved in illegal betting, which had also implicated the DySp falsely in a kidnap plot. Around the same time, Dhanyashree, a 20-year-old degree student, took her life in Mudigere town. The initial complaint in the case, filed by the victim’s father, had claimed that no one was responsible for her death.“In his first meeting with us, Annamalai told us to focus on both these cases. We had to find the cause of the suicide and arrest everyone involved in illegal cricket betting,” said a police official posted in Chikkamagaluru at the time. Bajrang Dal members circulated a photo uploaded by Dhanyashree on WhatsApp, showing her eyes close-cropped against a black background. Hindutva activists pointed to the black background as proof that she was in a burqa and had been in love with a Muslim boy.“That’s when we found a suicide note written by the girl in which it became clear that the same people accusing her boyfriend had actually harassed her,” recalled a police officer who worked with Annamalai. “We ensured that a second complaint was filed and all the men involved from the BJP and the Bajrang Dal were arrested. Even though there was pressure from BJP MLA CT Ravi, Annamalai had no hesitation arresting the troublemakers,” said the police officer.Sharan Pumpwell, a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader from Mangaluru, concurred with the police officer’s view and said Annamalai would often clamp down on protests held by Hindutva groups. “He would give us permission to protest peacefully, but there were times when emotions ran high and our boys would go on a rampage and our karyakartas were booked in cases,” Sharan said.A member of the Hindu Jagarana Vedike from Chikkamagaluru said that they used to receive ‘complaints’ about young women in contact with or in relationships with Muslim men. And when the Hindutva group would carry out ‘raids’, the police, under Annamalai, would book them without exception. He claims that Annamalai was also against illegal cattle transport and shared their concern over the ‘love jihad’, but that did not stop him from taking action against members of Hindutva groups.Under Annamalai’s leadership, the Chikkamagaluru police arrested several Bajrang Dal members and the president of the BJP Yuva Morcha in Chikkamagaluru town, in its crackdown over betting operations. But critics said that while the police did go after members of Hindutva groups, there were times that key suspects avoided scrutiny. In the suicide of DySP Kallappa Handibag, the main suspect was Praveen Kandya, a temple priest, police informer, and Bajrang Dal leader with 32 cases against his name. He was accused of staging the kidnap of a betting operator and the DySP was accused of receiving a ransom amount on behalf of Praveen. “Praveen managed to evade arrest in this case. He was absconding when the chargesheet was filed and he received bail,” said a police officer involved in the case.He was not the only Hindutva leader to escape scrutiny. Raghu Sakleshpura, Bajrang Dal state convenor and a prominent Hindutva leader from the Malnad region, said that despite arresting a few of his colleagues, Annamalai was never in danger of antagonising Hindutva groups. “In the Dhanyashree suicide case, a BJP worker named Anil was arrested but there was another person, Avinash from the Bajrang Dal, who had accompanied Anil to her house. We had a discussion with Annamalai and no case was registered against Avinash. He was cooperative and we never felt that he was against us,” said Raghu.“Most police officers hold peace meetings to calm tempers during communal incidents but I remember that in his time, his word carried weight… We never felt that he was targeting us. He earned the respect of our karyakartas,” said Raghu.His view is echoed by KL Ashok, who was the general secretary of the now defunct Komu Souharda Vedike or Communal Harmony Forum, an organisation ideologically opposed to right-wing groups. “While it is true that he had clamped down on many Hindutva groups, he always leaned slightly to the right even then,” Ashok said.Annamalai’s leanings came to the fore in 2017 when two groups protested over the contentious Baba Budangiri issue on the day of Datta Jayanthi, Ashok said. The police, under Annamalai’s instructions, distributed batons to Bajrang Dal workers to protect themselves, he alleged. He pointed out that Annamalai’s secular tendencies seen in Karnataka were more to do with the fact that he worked under a Congress government, and as an ambitious officer, he was merely being opportunistic in being tough against Hindutva groups.Annamalai in Lavanya suicide case In January 2022, Annamalai, now as the Tamil Nadu BJP state president, was faced with the fallout of another student suicide – that of 17-year-old Lavanya in Thanjavur district. This time, the former police officer, who once confronted Hindu fundamentalist groups in Chikkamagaluru, left nobody in doubt about his ideology.He rallied party leaders to work closely with the VHP to politicise the incident. A video that surfaced immediately after Lavanya’s death and was first shared on Twitter by Annamalai propagated the idea that she took her life over harassment and abuse she faced for refusing to convert to Christianity. The campaign made national headlines and propelled Annamalai, the politician, into the top tiers of the BJP’s young brigade that includes others such as Karnataka’s Tejasvi Surya..A senior leader in the BJP told TNM that they were unaware that Annamalai would be tweeting the video of the minor student and revealing her identity. “Many of us in the party were not happy about the Lavanya issue. Local enquiry by our party workers revealed that the student was having issues at her house. The video was sent to him by a right-wing YouTuber and Annamalai posted it on social media without consulting the party seniors,” he added.The claims made by Annamalai were disputed by the Thanjavur unit leaders of the minority wing of the BJP. When police investigations revealed that the video was edited and more facts started to emerge, senior leaders of the party were scared that it would cause embarrassment. “An SOS message was sent to the high command and the BJP national leadership formed a four-member committee led by Sandhya Ray, MP from Madhya Pradesh, and asked them to submit a report,” a party functionary said. The panel led by Sandhya Ray visited Ariyalur and met Lavanya’s family. Meanwhile, the case was transferred to the CBI by the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court. “If the case was investigated by the Tamil Nadu police, it could have put the BJP in a lot of trouble,” the leader added. On March 13, 2023, Muthuvel, the Ariyalur district secretary of VHP, one of the main instigators in the Lavanya issue, was arrested and detained under the notorious Goondas Act on charges of extorting money from a parish priest. In a complaint, the parish priest of the Our Lady of Lourdes church, Dominic Savio, alleged that Muthuvel demanded Rs 25 lakh and threatened to tarnish his image claiming that he harassed school children. Neither Annamalai nor any of the BJP leaders who were relying on inputs given by Muthuvel to rake up the issue of ‘forced conversions’ in Tamil Nadu had anything to say about his arrest.It isn’t just in this case that the change from Annamalai the policeman to Annamalai the politician was evident. Even when it came to handling complaints of sexual abuse in his party, Annamalai’s reactions left much to be desired.Dealing with harassmentIn July 2021, when Annamalai had assumed the position of Tamil Nadu BJP president, he was faced with a massive scandal involving a general secretary of the party who was caught in a sting operation. Former journalist and BJP member Madan Ravichandran released a video of BJP state general secretary KT Raghavan allegedly asking sexual favours from a woman party worker. Madan claimed he had proof to show at least 15 other senior party leaders were involved in similar issues. At that time, Madan was a close confidante of Annamalai, helping him with research and writing speeches..The video triggered a debate and concerns were raised on the safety of women in the BJP. Raghavan meanwhile denied all allegations and resigned. In a tweet, Raghavan said, “I met and consulted with Annamalai. I resign from my party responsibility. I deny the allegations. I will take legal action. Dharma will win.” This was just the beginning of the soap opera. Madan went on to claim that he released KT Raghavan’s video on Annamalai’s instructions. To back his claim, Madan released several audio clips in which Annamalai is heard discussing releasing the videos in the public domain and sidelining bad elements. In one of the audio clips posted by Madan, Annamalai tells Madan’s work partner Venba Geethiyan to be safe for a few days after the release of the videos and that he would protect them. “I will ruthlessly go after them, be safe and don’t get exposed,” Annamalai promises. However, when the matter became public, Annamalai disowned both Madan and Venba and sacked them from the party. In a statement, he accused the duo of ‘crossing party lines’. In 2023, two years after the video clip scandal, Madan resurfaced with a new set of ‘sting videos’ alleging that Annamalai used him to eliminate his competitors and had no intention of helping the women who were abused. A senior leader told TNM that the trust that Annamalai enjoyed among several leaders broke down..The politics aside, Annamalai didn’t do much to address the problem or make women feel safer. He formed a committee headed by state secretary Malarkodi to probe the sexual harassment allegations. However, till today the BJP maintains that the probe committee did not receive any complaints of sexual harassment. When a similar issue cropped up a few months later, Annamalai did not even act.In November 2022, an audio conversation between BJP’s then OBC Morcha leader Suriya Siva and BJP’s minority wing chief Dr Daisy Saran went viral on social media. Suriya can be heard issuing threats and using abusive language against the latter. He is also heard intimidating her with sexual violence and death threats. There was massive uproar in the party and BJP functionary Gayatri Raghuram asked Annamalai why no action was taken against Suriya. The startling bit, according to a BJP insider, is that Annamalai was aware of this conversation much before it was leaked on social media. “The audio was shared with Annamalai 25 days before it was leaked. Daisy had sent the clip to Annamalai and three other leaders complaining about Suriya Siva. One day, both of them were summoned by Annamalai and the matter was dealt with in a ‘simple’ manner,” he added. Suriya even shared a selfie with Annamalai during the Kashi Tamil Sangamam event. When the audio made its way to social media, Annamalai had to face tough questions – Why did he not act against Suriya? Why would he ask for a compromise? And why would he pose for a picture with him?.Stoking communal tensions in TNOn October 23, 2022 a radicalised Muslim youth named Jamesha Mubin was killed on the spot in a car blast outside the Kottai Easwaran Temple in Coimbatore’s Ukkadam. The car blast had all the ingredients to reignite the communal fire that followed the 1998 bombings by terrorist organisation Al-Ummah in the city. “One of the reasons why top police officers, including the DGP, ADGP Law and Order, ADGP Intelligence, and others, rushed to the spot is to ensure that there are no mistakes in handling the situation,” a police officer said. Considering the seriousness and sensitive nature of the situation, political parties were cautious in their response to the incident. But Annamalai did not waste any time in blaming the DMK government and the police. Even as the police were looking into multiple angles, Annamalai issued statement after statement calling it a failure of state intelligence..The Tamil Nadu police was forced to issue a statement accusing Annamalai of trying to defame the police and attempting to ‘divert the investigation’. As tempers were running high, the BJP did not want the issue to die down and decided to call for a bandh in Coimbatore district on October 31. A leader who was privy to the discussion told TNM that Annamalai instructed the then BJP’s national executive committee member CP Radhakrishnan to make an announcement calling for a bandh against the ‘lethargic’ attitude of the DMK government. “There was a conference call and Annamalai asked senior leaders from Coimbatore to announce a bandh,” said a leader.Elaborate arrangements were made, CP Radhakrishnan and South Coimbatore MLA Vanathi Srinivasan gave a press conference to announce the bandh. When a petition against the bandh came up for hearing in the High Court, without any consultations Annamalai backed off and informed the court that he never called for a bandh, contradicting statements made by the senior leaders of his own party.This came as a rude shock to several party leaders. A district leader who was involved in mobilising resources for the bandh told TNM that senior leaders from Coimbatore were reaching out to traders and other organisations to ensure that the bandh was successful. “There was pressure from the government. Minister Senthil Balaji who was the Coimbatore district in-charge reached out to traders’ associations and others asking them not to participate in the bandh. When Annamalai sprung a surprise in the High Court, the local BJP leaders had to cut a sorry figure,” the BJP functionary added.At the BJP’s core committee meeting, senior leaders lashed out at Annamalai for ‘disowning’ them in public and exposing the party. Many leaders told TNM that this created an atmosphere of distrust within the party.The road ahead?An undated video of Annamalai addressing a gathering in his police uniform and talking about Tipu Sultan often pops up on social media. He can be heard recounting the story of Tipu’s army attacking the Sringeri mutt in Karnataka and how the king later told the head of the mutt that the attack was carried out without his knowledge. Annamalai reminds the audience that Tipu gifted 240 villages to the mutt and also recalls how Tipu donated huge amounts of gold to the Kollur Mookambika temple. Annamalai ends his speech saying, “The reason I’m telling all this is because history should never be distorted. Whatever was the history and the truth should be told truthfully.”.On October 26, 2022, Annamalai posted pictures of him bowing before a portrait of the Marudhu brothers – Periya Marudhu and Chinna Marudhu, who led a valiant struggle against the East India Company. Just months later, ahead of the Karnataka elections, the BJP began using pictures of the Maradhu brothers claiming they were Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda, two Vokkaliga brothers who killed Tipu Sultan. It was a fact that Annamalai, who was the Karnataka poll in-charge, conveniently chose to ignore..It was a clear move by the BJP to win over the Vokkaligas with this fake story. The party had to quickly backtrack and abandon the ‘Uri Gowda Nanje Gowda’ campaign after a powerful Vokkaliga seer, Nirmalananda Swamiji of the Adichunchungiri mutt, dismissed the story as concocted and issued a warning to those spreading fake news. Annamalai never uttered a word as the controversy raged on.Annamalai’s willingness to change stances, stay silent when needed, and readiness to pounce on opportunities make him a politician to watch out for, given how many leaders have shot to prominence using these tactics. Many BJP leaders and followers are convinced that he will become one of the top leaders of the party. While the DMK and its allies write him off as a ‘joker in the pack’, he has been able to project himself as the main opposition voice in Tamil Nadu, as the AIADMK continues to be mired in its own leadership tussles.One factor that stands in Annamalai’s way, at least at the moment, is the vexation among his own party people about his style of handling party leaders and allies. According to one functionary, the party has seen a steady decline at the grassroots level. “In 2019, out of 67,000 booths in Tamil Nadu, we had a strong presence in at least 8,000 booths. Now it has come down to less than 2,000, this is only in areas where we are strong,” he revealed.An alliance party leader told TNM that during the Erode East by-elections, the Tamil Nadu BJP high command shared a list of booth committees they had formed in the constituency. “The list had names and phone numbers. When we verified, most of the phone numbers were inactive,” said the leader.The factional feud in the BJP is also at an all time high in Tamil Nadu. Annamalai has sidelined functionaries appointed by his predecessors and in some cases dissolved the district units en masse. One recent example is Annamalai sacking all the functionaries in Ramanathapuram district, considered as the party’s southern strongman Karupu Muruganandham’s stronghold, who has been sidelined now.Distrust within the BJPOther than the lack of trust between him and state leaders, there is a growing murmur that Annamalai is authoritarian in his ways and focused on building his own stature rather than the party’s.“Annamalai is still under the impression that he is a police officer,” said a functionary who was closely associated with Annamalai in his initial days. Party functionaries were in for a rude shock when Annamalai once said he would tie them upside down and beat them up.Similarly, party leaders are unhappy with Annamalai for creating an infrastructure to parallelly promote himself. The war room operated by Annamalai’s close confidant Krishna Kumar Murugan and his team has triggered a lot of heartburn within the organisation. The agenda of the war room is to constantly create a buzz online about Annamalai on social media platforms. However, the war room has been accused of targeting his opponents from within the party and spreading misinformation and canards about them.“The war room engages social media influencers who are aligned with right-wing ideology; they also purchase popular Twitter handles with huge followers,” a source said. Though there is heartburn, many leaders grudgingly agree that Annamalai’s social media team has done the job for him.“This is where the experience of being an IPS officer comes in handy for Annamalai. Adequate importance is given to paper work,” a leader said.Party insiders also point out that ever since Annamalai took over, many leaders who were known faces of the BJP have been carefully sidelined. Leaders like L Murugan was elevated as a union minister, Vanathi Srinivasan has been given national level responsibilities, AP Muruganandam and Vinoj P Selvam are away from the media glare, and those who challenged Annamalai’s authority are no longer in the party. Tamil Nadu is the only state from where three top BJP leaders occupy the posts of Governors in different states – L Ganesan in Nagaland, CP Radhakrishnan in Jharkhand, Tamilisai Soundarajan as Governor of Telangana & Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry. Interestingly, all three are senior leaders and former BJP state presidents.In April 2023, Annamalai made a splash with the #DMKFiles, accusing DMK leaders of owning assets worth Rs 1.34 lakh crore. Though the DMK hit back with multiple legal notices, the issue has the ruling party worried. This because the #DMKFiles seems to be act one in a play, followed by the Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax recently swooping down on DMK leaders. Annamalai also made headlines after releasing an audio that purportedly belonged to DMK Minister P Thiyaga Rajan, eventually leading to the minister’s portfolio being changed.Annamalai’s six-month long padayatra that began on July 28 at Rameshwaram has drawn crowds in areas like Kanyakumari, Tenkasi, and Kumbakonam where the BJP has a significant presence. In the absence of a strong narrative however, the yatra has not been able to grab headlines or draw large public attention. The 2024 Lok Sabha polls will be a litmus test for Annamalai, and his team hopes that the strategy that worked for leaders in other states will pay rich dividends in the Dravidian land.Inputs by Pooja Prasanna

Annamalai and the art of political gymnastics

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