Former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, K Annamalai was appointed on Thursday as the new BJP chief of Tamil Nadu, succeeding L Murugan who was inducted into the Union cabinet. Mr. Murugan has now been appointed as the Union minister of state for fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying, and information and broadcasting. His elevation is seen as a reward for his work as party chief in the southern state where the BJP won four seats in the recently held assembly elections.
The last time the BJP had four lawmakers in the assembly was in 2001 when the party fought in alliance with the DMK. In the next three elections in 2006, 2011, and 2016, the BJP couldn’t win a single seat.
Mr. Annamalai, a Karnataka cadre IPS officer, resigned from service in 2019 and joined the BJP last year. “He will be a youth icon,” said BJP vice-president K S Narendran. “He has shown that he is a strict and a good administrator as an IPS officer. He left the services at a young age and joined us because of his national ideals. He has a long-term vision.”
