CHENNAI: Ending intense speculation for the past couple of weeks, Tirunelveli MLA Nainar Nagenthran is all set to become the state president of the BJP, replacing K Annamalai. Party sources said that he will take charge on Saturday.
The 64-year-old's nomination was endorsed by all prominent leaders of the BJP, including the present president Annamalai.
The notification inviting nominations was issued on Thursday. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who was in Chennai to formally announce the AIADMK-BJP alliance for the 2026 elections, said on social media platform X that the Tamil Nadu BJP received a nomination for the post of state president only from Nagenthran.
However, the formal announcement that Nagenthran will be the new president is expected from the party’s national president, sources said.
Shah, in the message, said Annamalai has made commendable and “unprecedented” accomplishments as the president of the Tamil Nadu BJP unit, whether it was carrying the policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the people or the programmes of the party from village to village. He said the BJP will leverage Annamalai’s organisational skills in the party’s national framework.
While it was widely perceived that the AIADMK had demanded the removal of Annamalai from the post as a condition for joining the alliance, Shah at the press meet said it was not true and pointed out that AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami and Annamalai were sitting on either side of him since Annamalai was the president as of Friday when the alliance was announced. It can, however, be recalled that Annamalai had on Thursday said that Shah’s visit did not have anything to do with the election of the new state president.
Veteran in electoral politics
Nagenthran, who hails from the Mukkulathor community that has a significant presence in the southern districts, was first elected as an MLA in 2001 from Tirunelveli on an AIADMK ticket and was made the minister for transport. He also later handled other key portfolios of electricity, industries and mines.
Though he won the 2011 Assembly elections from Tirunelveli when the AIADMK returned to power after 2006, he was not made a minister. When the party won the 2016 elections, he could not win. The internal squabbles that played out in the AIADMK after the demise of J Jayalalithaa in 2016 and his diminished importance in the party led to him joining the BJP in 2017.
Although he took an aggressive Hindutva stand in 2018, making certain provocative remarks soon after joining the party, he later changed that stance. He is considered an amiable personality, who understands the nitty-gritty of electoral politics and the give and take needed.
Be it Assembly or Lok Sabha elections, he has always contested from Tirunelveli, barring 2019 when he unsuccessfully contested from Ramanathapuram in the Lok Sabha elections.
He won the Tirunelveli Assembly constituency in 2001, 2011 and 2021 and lost in 2006 and 2016. Due to his long-standing association with the constituency, he retains a vote bank for himself there.
Nagenthran has faced corruption charges in the past. During the 2024 elections, Rs 3.98 crore was seized from a few people in a south-bound train in Chennai by election officials. Though it was alleged that the money was meant for Nagenthran’s election expenditure, he denied the charges.
