Amid speculation that Tamil Nadu BJP Legislature Party Leader Nainar Nagendran may be appointed as the next state president, a notification issued by the Tamil Nadu BJP regarding the election for the post has added a fresh twist to the ongoing developments. According to the notification the willing aspirant should be a member of the party for at least 10 years. This has made both Nainar Nagendran and Annamalai ineligible to participate in the contest. However, Annamalai had already announced that he would opt out of the race.
Nainar Nagenderan joined BJP in August 2017 and has completed only 9 years as primary member and Annamalai has less than five years. He joined the party only in August 2020. The development comes just a day ahead of Union Home Minister Amit Shah arriving in Chennai to hold talks with prospective allies for the upcoming 2026 Assembly elections.
According to the notification, the party has set a criteria for state president’s election and the aspiring candidate should be a dedicated member for three election seasons and should have at least been a primary member of the party for ten years. The aspiring candidate should be nominated by ten state general council members. For national council members, an aspiring candidate should be proposed and seconded by the state general council members.
The sudden announcement by the Tamil Nadu BJP of setting a criteria for the state BJP president candidate has surprised many in the party. TNM had already reported in its weekly political newsletter Powertrip that Nainar Nagendran, who belongs to Mukkulathor community topped the list of candidates for the state president’s post.
Along with him there were two other aspiring candidates, BJP Mahila Morcha President Vanathi Srinivasan and Prof Rama Srinivasan from Madurai had also evinced their interest in leading the party in the state.
Sources in the BJP said that the criteria of ten years has been invoked because of pressure from the RSS, as the sangh was not happy with newcomers occupying top positions in the party.
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