Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
When former Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai last met Union Home Minister Amit Shah before walking away from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), speculation spread around that Shah had whispered into his ear and the two leaders had discussed a covert political plan for Tamil Nadu. Annamalai released a video on Monday and divulged what Shah had spoken into his ear.
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Critics had claimed in June that the BJP had sent Annamalai to strengthen the BJP in the state and that his new political platform, We The Leaders, was effectively a “B team” of the BJP. On Sunday (August 16), Annamalai revealed what he said was the actual message Shah conveyed to him in that private moment.
Speaking at an environmental awareness rally organised by his political foundation, We The Leaders, in Chennai, Annamalai said Amit Shah had actually offered him a “national role in Delhi”.
“Everyone claimed that Amit Shah has sent Annamalai to Tamil Nadu to brilliantly build the BJP and Annamalai’s new political movement, We The Leaders, is the B team of BJP. This was a complete lie peddled by critics,” Annamalai said while addressing the crowd in Chennai on Sunday.
Annamalai also revealed in the video what Amit Shah whispered into his ear.
“Amit Shah told me one thing. I haven’t told this to anyone, and I am saying it on this stage,” Annamalai said, adding that Shah had asked him to “move to Delhi for three years and take up a national role of the BJP”.
But according to Annamalai, he did not want the offer and declined it.
“When he [Amit Shah] told me to take charge in Delhi for more than three years, I didn’t feel right, and I wanted to stay in Tamil Nadu. I told Amit Shah I didn’t want such an offer,” Annamalai said.
DIDN’T GO TO DELHI, NOT GOING TO US: ANNAMALAI
The former Tamil Nadu BJP president’s remarks come as he seeks to chart a political path outside the BJP after years at the forefront of the party’s expansion in the state.
Annamalai, who led the Tamil Nadu BJP from 2021 to 2025, had attempted to build the party beyond the state’s entrenched Dravidian political framework. His tenure was marked by an aggressive campaign against the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and an effort to project the BJP as an independent political force in Tamil Nadu.
But the BJP’s decision to return to an alliance with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) for the 2026 Assembly election marked a significant turn in strategy.
Annamalai has now launched We The Leaders, while insisting that his decision to remain in Tamil Nadu was not motivated by any plan to move abroad or take up a national political position.
“I’m staying right here, serving the people of Tamil Nadu, staying right here with our friends, brothers, and sisters,” he said.
Taking a swipe at speculation about his future, Annamalai said some of his former political colleagues had claimed he would leave India and move to the United States.
“This hand is holding garbage here, it didn’t go anywhere. This is Annamalai, who has never gone to Delhi, where is he going to America,” he said.
VERIFY FROM SHAH ABOUT DELHI OFFER: ANNAMALAI TO BJP LEADERS
Annamalai even challenged BJP leaders to ask Shah directly about the offer by the Union home minister.
“On 20th (August), Amit Shah is coming to Tamil Nadu, ask him if you gave any offer to Annamalai. Did he come back saying he didn’t want it? Ask Amit Shah what offer he gave me,” he said.
A day later, Annamalai provided another piece of the puzzle at the India Today Roundtable Tamil Nadu event on Monday (August 17) explaining why he became disillusioned with the BJP.
Annamalai said he believed Tamil Nadu was “ready for a change”, but felt the BJP’s central leadership was not sufficiently responsive to the aspirations of what he described as a young and restless electorate.
His criticism was particularly directed at “excessive centralisation of decision-making”.
“I believe right now the decisions are becoming Delhi-centric, so it is very unfortunate. That has to change, number one. And genuinely, they have to empower state-level leaders to take actions. It has to happen,” Annamalai said at the India Today Roundtable Tamil Nadu event.
Now, with We The Leaders, Annamalai appears determined to prove that his political future lies not in Delhi, but on Tamil Nadu’s soil, where he spent years trying to build a new political alternative.
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
