Kishan Reddy to visit Chennai on Jan 17 for Tamil Nadu BJP president election

CHENNAI: The process to elect the next president of the BJP’s Tamil Nadu unit has gained pace, with union minister Kishan Reddy, the party’s national general secretary in charge of the state affairs, scheduled to reach Chennai on January 17 to oversee the election.

The election process began as K Annamalai's three-year term as the state president has come to an end. According to a Daily Thanthi report, several names are making the rounds, including that of senior leader Nainar Nagendran and party’s Mahila Morcha national president Vanathi Srinivasan.

Both Nagendran and Vanathi were elected as MLAs when the party was in alliance with the AIADMK, a tie-up that was snapped after Annamalai insisted on the party going on its own. Now, however, the Saffron party’s central leadership seems to have taken a relook at this strategy, and is said to be rebuild the relationship, a task that these two leaders will be able to undertake.

However, party insiders do not rule out another term for Annamalai, who managed to keep the BJP in the limelight by taking on the ruling DMK relentlessly.

The party conducts internal party elections every three years and the state president is appointed by the national leadership. Annamalai became the president following the resignation of L Murugan from the post after being appointed as the union minister.