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    'Annamalai top contender for Andhra RS seat with top brass, TDP backing'

    Annamalai will participate in the “Stanford India Conference” scheduled for April 26 at Stanford University in California.

    Annamalai top contender for Andhra RS seat with top brass, TDP backing
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    Annamalai speaking at a public meeting in Tiruvamiyur

    CHENNAI: Amid growing speculation over his potential elevation to the Rajya Sabha from Andhra Pradesh, BJP ex-state chief K Annamalai is set to depart for the US on Wednesday, April 23, to attend an academic conference.

    Annamalai will participate in the “Stanford India Conference” scheduled for April 26 at Stanford University in California.

    The conference will feature Annamalai as a keynote speaker, during which he is expected to engage with Indian students and members of the diaspora. Interestingly, his return to India is slated for April 28, a day before the final date for filing nominations for the Rajya Sabha bypoll in Andhra Pradesh.

    The timing of his trip and return has triggered political buzz, especially in light of recent developments within the saffron party.

    The by-election was necessitated by the resignation of YSRCP’s V Vijayasai Reddy in January, several months ahead of the scheduled end of his tenure in June 2028.

    This timing has fuelled speculation in political circles that Annamalai, who stepped down as TN BJP chief, may be considered for the vacant seat, with the backing of key ally Telugu Desam Party. Though Annamalai’s aides remain tight-lipped, BJP insiders hinted that he is a frontrunner for the seat, alongside other names such as former Union Minister Smriti Irani.

    Adding weight to the speculation, TDP chief and Andhra CM N Chandrababu Naidu met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Tuesday. According to the grapevine in the national capital, the two leaders discussed the RS seat among other pressing matters.

    Annamalai’s rapport with TDP leader Nara Lokesh, who campaigned for him in the 2024 LS polls in Coimbatore, strengthens the cross-state nomination possibility.

    Ramakrishna N
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