Inside Details From Annamalai-Nitin Nabin Meet: Annamalai Feels 'Wronged' By BJP, Say Sources| Watch

Added: 2026-06-03

[00:00:00]Hello and welcome and a very good afternoon. You're watching Times now live with me Sadat Kala. Let's turn our attention immediately to what's been happening within the BJP in the state of Tamil Nadu. Now amid speculation over his next move, the former BJP president in from Tamil Nadu Kamalai has met the current BJP president, the national president Mr. Nitan Nabin and also BL Santosh in Delhi. Sources suggest that Anamalai feels that he has been wronged by the BJP and that he's willing to tender his resignation. The meeting with BL Santosh and Nitin Nabin was an attempt on the part of the BJP to pleate him, to pacify him, hear him out and sources say that the possibility of a role at the central level can be offered. Everything whether he leaves or stays now depends on how talks with the top brass of the party. Now proceed. Let me go across to my colleague Dhani who'll get us all those details as well about what transpired in that allimportant meeting.

[00:01:02]Dhini Anamalai has met Mr. Nathan Nabin.

[00:01:05]Uh he claims or as sources believe that he's not got his fair share within the party. Now there was uh a reference that had been made to a potential national role for Ana Mallay at the time that the BJP and the AIDMK decided to go together for the elections in 2026. Now what awaits Mr. Anamalai? How is the party brass likely to respond? Take us through those deliberations.

[00:01:38]Well, exactly as you rightly said uh you know in 2025 when Anamalai stepped on from the state president role at that time the home minister Mr. Amit Sha he told that Anamealai will be given a bigger role at the national level that is that was the promise that came in from Mr. Rammit Sha but it's been more than one year Anamalai has not been given any new role or responsibility by the central BJP and this is one of the key reasons why he's upset at this point in time and in fact even during the assembly elections here in Tamil Nadu Anameal's opinions and suggestions were not taken uh seriously by both the state high command and also the central high command is what we're given to understand uh you know Anameal was not in fact keen towards the idea of forging an alliance with the ADMK. Anomaly wanted the BJP to contest the elections separately but still uh you know the uh central leaders of the BJP they decided to forge an alliance with the ADMK and now we looking at the results the BJP has got out of this alliance their vote share has come down drastically from 11%age to around you know 3%age now uh so Anameal's campaign in Tamil Nadu during the elections was also restricted to a few uh districts and a few assembly constituencies his campaign was not statewide his campaign was not something that is extensive. Uh he was only allowed to campaign in a few uh you know assembly constituencies and a few uh you know districts specifically where uh you know uh he holds some uh good uh following. So considering all these Anameal at this point in time believes that he has no scope in the BJP henceforth that his future in the BJP looks dim is what Anameal is thinking at this point in time. uh you know so today during the meeting with Nitan Nabin he has learned to have uh you know conveyed all his grievances so uh whatever the grievances that he had uh within the party for the past one year all these grievances they've been conveyed to the uh BJP's top brass and you know the BJP is in fact not keen on you know letting anamallay go because for them anamal is very important here in Tamil Nadu especially in the current circumstance when the politics in Tamil Nadu has become more about Salon versus Vijay uh the BJP is in need of a young leader.

[00:03:49]The BJP is in need of a charismatic leader who can take charge. So at such a circumstance uh the BJP will definitely not want Anamalai to break ties with them. So they will try as much as possible to keep Anamalai within the party. Efforts are on to convince Anamalai. We have to wait and see if Anamal is going to get convinced. So he has told the media yesterday that in the next couple of days he'll be holding a press conference and he'll be talking about everything in detail. Uh so this press conference is expected to happen either tomorrow or day after uh during this media interaction. Uh Anamalai will announce his decision publicly.

[00:04:24]>> All right. We'll wait and see what transpires during that all important press conference as well. Darin, you've given us a very comprehensive update.

[00:04:30]Thanks for that. Now Anam Mallay has had differences with the Bharti Jantaa party over the last few years on a whole host of issues with the most significant fallout being his removal as the state BJP president when the party decided to ally with the AIDMK. a move that failed to yield expected results for the BJP in the 2026 assembly polls. The BJP managed to win just one seat. Now, here's a look at some of the run-ins that both Anamalai and his own party have had in the recent past. In September 2023, Anam Malai had very openly criticized Jay Alitha and even of course spoken about corruption during her tenure and that led eventually to a split in the alliance between the BJP and the AIDMK.

[00:05:12]A year and a half later in April 2025, Anam Mallay stepped down as the state president of the Bharti Jantaa party.

[00:05:19]This is of course after having led the campaign for the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu. In March 2026, the BJP top leadership reached out to AIDMK as well and Anamalai was unhappy with that compromise with the AIDMK. The two sides of course would ally in the buildup to the elections in the state of Tamil Nadu. Now Anamalai was absent also during the prime minister's visit to Coimaturur and in April 2026 Anamalai did not contest the assembly election.

[00:05:51]He did however campaign but it was quite limited in scope. In May 2026 Anamalai criticized the three language directive as well that had come from this center breaking ranks of course with the party line. Now, top sources within the Anam Mala camp tell Times now that the BJP leader is starting to feel that there isn't really much scope left for him within the party. Remember that ever since he was removed from the post of the state BJP president following the 2024 Lok Sabai elections, he's yet to receive any new significant responsibility on behalf of his party. Anamalai is also reportedly upset over this. He was not very active in the 2026 Tamil Nadu assembly poll campaign either. In fact, sources within the Anamalai camp tell times now that the BJP leader could also contest the upcoming bipoles in Tamil Nadu should he choose to exit the Bhart Jantaa party when Anamalai had been specifically questioned on all these points by the media on Monday. He says that he'll reveal his details about the next move within a span of a couple of days.

[00:07:18]Thank you. Thank you.

[00:07:23]Yeah.

[00:07:28]Thank you.

[00:07:43]Thank you.

[00:07:44]>> Well, let me go across to Pragya as well who's been reporting on the deliberations that have been taking place in the national capital as well.

[00:07:51]Praa, this is quite unusual for the Bhart Jantaa party. We see this happening quite a bit when it comes to the Congress and other members of the opposition. But descent within the ranks of the BJP has been very rare given the BJP's spectacular electoral success at the national level. And descent of this kind is also not something that is taken too kindly by the top brass of the BJP leadership as well. How are they likely to respond to what Anameala has been doing?

[00:08:23]Well, Siddhhat you know Anam Malai is not a traditional Carter in a very uh you know BJP traditional way. In fact he joined after vol taking voluntary retirement from IPA services and this is exactly why uh you know he has also arranged a a sort of different movement that he started in Tamil Nadu. Lot of youngsters became fan. He became a social media charisma over a period of time and even the even his detractors believe that he at least created a momentum for BJP in Tamil Nadu that is uh you know has to be he has to be given credit for that and this is exactly why Mr. Ana Malai may have thought that he can always go uh you know how Vijay also uh uh became uh you know the chief minister and has uh you know grabbed the attention of youth uh women and everyone alike. So you know that was the major plan of Mr. Anamalai and this is why he was very against alliance with ak which was not even heard and there have been many instances in the past as well where he was not actively involved even when few of the meetings of the campaign and Yes.

[00:09:33]>> Yeah. Absolutely. And in fact uh the meetings uh if anything can be said from those meetings, it looks like that there is an attempt to pacify him, hear him out. And >> will Anamalai get pacified? We'll have to wait and see. Those deliberations with Nitan Nabin and BL Santo have concluded. He's also expected now to address the press at some stage.