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I am not in race for BJP state president election: Annamalai

BJP Tamil Nadu president K. Annamalai, on Friday, said he is not in the race for the election of next chief of the state unit.

During an interaction with journalists in Coimbatore, when specifically asked if he would be contesting in the elections for the new State president for the party, he categorically said: “I am not in the race for the new state president... I am not in the race.... I always desire the best for the party.”

Annamalai said he will talk to the media after the new president is elected. “I have already spelt out clearly. I don’t want to say much. Election for the new state president will be held soon. You watch it and then you can speak,” he said.

He also said that in the BJP, there is no contest. It is not like 50 people submitting nominations and there is a contest for the State president post. “We will unanimously elect a person as the leader... where is a contest then? That is why I said I am not in the contest,” he said.

“My work as a cadre (of the party) will continue. I came to fight corruption and there is no compromise in that... Efforts will continue to bring good governance in Tamil Nadu some day,” he said.

The BJP is a national party and several factors should be taken into consideration. The 2026 elections are important for Tamil Nadu and its people. Should people get caught for another five years under the DMK rule? “I will continue to work as a cadre,” he said. When asked about reports that he will become a Union Minister, Mr. Annamalai said he “will not be going out of here.”

Sources close to Annamalai later said he had “simply said that he was not in the running to be the next president” of the state unit. Internal polls are likely around April 9 when Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy is to visit Tamil Nadu as presiding officer for that poll. The point was finessed, rather than an aggressive “standing down” and the issue was being presented as a natural end of a tenure, and the election of a new president.