CHENNAI: Nearly four months after Nainar Nagenthran took over as Tamil Nadu BJP president, the party on Wednesday released its list of new state office-bearers.
Despite the leadership change, the party has opted for continuity, retaining most key functionaries from the previous team to avoid any big overhaul ahead of the Assembly elections in about ten months.
Former Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai, who is likely to be given a national role, has not featured in the list.
The number of vice presidents has been increased from 11 to 14, with five new faces brought in. Prominently, actor-turned-politician Khushbu Sundar has been appointed as vice president. She had resigned from the National Commission for Women in August 2024, citing a desire to focus on politics more.
Party sources said both the state and national leadership were keen to avoid a major overhaul ahead of the elections. Only few more leaders have been accommodated to motivate them to work well, said party sources.
The other new vice presidents are R N Jayaprakash, M Venkatesan, K Gopalsamy and N Sundar. Among the previous 11 vice presidents, nine have been retained. K S Narendran and Narayanan Thirupathy have not found a place in the new list, though Thirupathy has been appointed as the state chief spokesperson.
The number of state secretaries has also been increased from 13 to 15. Of the earlier secretaries, S G Suryah and S Saravanakumar have been replaced. The new appointees are Kathali Narasinga Perumal, R Nandakumar, S Raghuraman alias Murali and Amar Prasad Reddy. Suryah has now been posted as the state youth wing president. All the five incumbent general secretaries have been retained.
Notably, K T Raghavan, who had resigned as general secretary in August 2021 after a controversy over an alleged explicit video call, has returned to the leadership team as state organiser. However, his appointment attracted criticism from sections of party supporters on social media.