Lok Sabha election performance under scanner as Tamil Nadu BJP president Annamalai heads to Delhi

CHENNAI: The BJP's Tamil Nadu unit president K Annamalai left for Delhi to take part in a crucial meeting of State presidents and Chief Ministers that the Saffron party high command has convened at the national capital.

Coming as it does after the party failed to win any Lok Sabha seat from Tamil Nadu, including Coimbatore where Annamalai himself was the candidate, speculations are rife about the agenda and possible outcome of the meeting.

Soon after the results started trickling in, many political analysts here began doing back of the envelope calculations to argue that the INDIA bloc led by the ruling DMK scored a spectacular victory, winning all 40 seats in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, because of the rupture in the AIADMK-BJP ties. As this breakdown was widely believed to be part of Annamalai's plan to grow the party in Tamil Nadu, the blame for the loss is also placed on his doorsteps.

According to a Thanthi TV report, BJP president JP Nadda and defacto president Amit Shah would review the performance of party functionaries, including the senior leaders, during the campaign. The non-performers are likely to be pulled up and some may even face stern action.

The BJP leadership is likely to discuss the challenges that the party faces in Tamil Nadu and the ways and means to address them, and also chart the path forward for the party's growth in the Dravidian State.