New Delhi: Despite voices being raised against his style of functioning, Tamil Nadu BJP President K. Annamalai has the backing of the Central leadership for the work he is doing to strengthen the party on the ground.
Appreciating the work of Annamalai, a top BJP leader said that despite being new in politics, he is working hard to strengthen the party at the ground level.
“People of Tamil Nadu are looking for freshness and change politics. He (Annamalai) has brought a new style and freshness in political functioning. I am sure that he will take the party to a new height in the state,” he said.
Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Chennai, another senior leader pointed out that the welcome he received clearly shows that the acceptance of BJP and its most popular leader (Modi) is continuously increasing.
“The Prime Minister’s popularity is increasing in Tamil Nadu and people are made aware about central government’s development and welfare schemes. The BJP workers are reaching out to the beneficiaries of the Central government’s schemes.
“The BJP cadres in the state under the leadership of Annamalai are doing great job in reaching out to the beneficiaries of the schemes. They are knocking the doors of the beneficiaries across the state,” a senior BJP leader said.
Another senior party leader pointed out that a robust party structure has been created on the ground across the state and now efforts are on to strengthen the party to reach out to new people, which is the focus of Annamalai.
“With an objective to reach out to the new people, he (Annamalai) personally visits 25 new houses every day to interact with people. He meets the people at their houses and works to win their support for the party,” he said.
While his detractors claim that Annamalai, a former IPS officer, is trying to implement police culture in the Tamil Nadu BJP, saying that such style of functioning will not help the party in the long run.
Some even questioned his political experience and said, “A political party cannot be cleaned and made functional by a single individual who doesn’t have any political background. Energy and drive are one thing and delivering is another matter. It has to be seen how he will exhibit the politics of inclusion within the party.”
Sources claimed that Annamalai’s position is intact despite the discontent in the state unit as he has the full backing of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. It is also learnt that BJP chief J.P. Nadda is appreciating his work.
“We are aware of the things in Tamil Nadu and as per our assessment, Annamalai is doing a great job as state president. He is doing several new things for the growth of the party in Tamil Nadu which may not be liked by some, but it will ultimately benefit the party,” a senior leader in Delhi said.
Recently, multiple cases were filed across Tamil Nadu against Annamalai over a �derogatory’ Twitter post made by him.
(IANS)
