TN BJP chief Annamalai to give 'tough fight' in Coimbatore

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu BJP President, K Annamalai is giving a tough fight to the INDIA bloc and the AIADMK alliance in the Coimbatore Lok Sabha seat.

Annamalai is taking on Ganapathi P Rajkumar of the DMK and Singai G Ramachandran of the AIADMK in a three-cornered contest.

The young IPS-officer-turned politician has created an image of a crusader against corruption.

He has taken on the DMK by bringing out in public domain several alleged corruption charges against the ruling party in Tamil Nadu under the name, ‘DMK files’.

His six-month-long padyatra, ‘My land, my people’ has created a major impact among the people in Tamil Nadu.

Annamalai has showcased the central government’s schemes, including welfare programmes and attacked the DMK for its ‘poor’ governance and lashed out against the BJP’s then-ally AIADMK and forced it to snap ties with the party.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, CPI(M) leader, PR Natarajan won the seat as part of the DMK alliance, defeating BJP leader CP Radhakrishnan by a margin of 1,79,143 votes.

It may be recalled that the BJP was in an alliance with the AIADMK in the 2019 general elections and the 2021 Assembly polls.

For the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, the DMK has taken over the Coimbatore seat from the CPI(M) and allocated it the Dindigul constituency.

This, according to political observers was for putting up a strong fight against the BJP in the constituency.

Political analyst K Senthilnathan told IANS, “The Coimbatore seat has turned into a matter of prestige for the DMK and the party wanted to ensure that it was putting up a fight to retain the seat. This is the reason it swapped Dindigul with Coimbatore with the CPI(M).”

He also added that the BJP has an MLA in Coimbatore South, who is the National President of the party’s women’s wing, Vanathi Srinivasan.

While in the 2019 general elections and the 2021 Assembly polls, the BJP was in an alliance with the AIADMK, this time the party has snapped ties with the AIADMK and has only PMK with it.

The BJP, it may be recalled, has won twice from Coimbatore. Party leader CP Radhakrishnan won the seat in 1998 and 1999 but in alliance with the AIADMK and DMK respectively.

While arithmetically, it is difficult for the BJP to win the seat, the dynamic presence of party candidate, Annamalai and regular visits by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Tamil Nadu have given lot of mileage to the party in the constituency.

Plus, Vanathi Srinivasan’s victory in the 2021 Assembly elections after trouncing Tamil superstar Kamal Haasan in South Coimbatore, has given the BJP a boost in the Lok Sabha constituency

C Rajeev, Director, Centre For Policy and Development Studies, a think tank based out of Chennai told IANS, “In this election, the BJP can spring a surprise and the party is going all out for it. K Annamalai has created a name for himself in Tamil Nadu. Plus the care given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is giving the BJP a major electoral boost in this constituency.”