- 8 hours ago
The BJP has released its candidate list for the Tamil Nadu assembly elections, with former state president K Annamalai's name not included in the list.
Category
đź—ž
NewsTranscript
00:00The Tamil Nadu BJP candidates list is finally out and Annamalai is not in the Tamil Nadu BJP list.
00:07Union Minister El Murugan will contest the elections from Awan Ashi.
00:11Former State President K. Annamalai has not been fielded this time.
00:16Former Governor Tamilisai Sondar Rajan will contest the elections from Satur.
00:21It will be Nainar Nagendran.
00:22In Coimbatore North will be Vanati Sri Nivasan.
00:26Mailapur will be Tamilisai Sondar Rajan.
00:30And those are the prominent names that are featured in the list.
00:35Where the Tamil Nadu BJP list that is finally out.
00:39While there was speculation on whether it was the AIDMK that was responsible for the delay in the BJP releasing
00:46its Tamil Nadu candidates list.
00:48But it is finally out and what has raised eyebrows is how Annamalai has not been named in this list.
00:56The prominent names that feature Union Minister El Murugan who will contest the elections from Awan Ashi.
01:02Former State President K. Annamalai who has not been fielded.
01:06Former Governor Tamilisai Sondar Rajan will contest the elections.
01:09In fact from Satur the name that has made it to this list is Nainar Nagendran.
01:14From Coimbatore North will be Vanati Sri Nivasan.
01:18And Mailapur will be Tamilisai Sondar Rajan.
01:21Let me take this to my colleague Pramod Madhav joining us on the broadcast.
01:26With further details Pramod or who all have been named in the list.
01:29Why is it that Annamalai has been kept out?
01:32One thing is very certain.
01:3427 constituencies were given for BJP that they consider as a huge victory.
01:38However now we could see that the BJP apparently has got the locations where they want exactly.
01:43Those things have not been acquired.
01:44That is a kind of like complaint that was with the BJP leaders in the state of Tamil Nadu.
01:47However what happened is that even before this list could be released.
01:50Nainar Nagendran the state president claimed that he is going to contest from Satur.
01:54And that's been confirmed right now.
01:55He is contesting from Satur.
01:56And even before the list could be announced at a party K. Parishwamy.
02:00After announcing the constituencies for the KMD seats for NDA BJP.
02:06He went ahead, initiated his campaign at Mailapur.
02:08Where he had Tamilisai Sondar Rajan with him in the van as well.
02:11So now Tamilisai Sondar Rajan is contesting from Mailapur.
02:14Two constituencies in Chennai city BJP has acquired.
02:18One is Aavadi and the other one is Mailapur.
02:20And from Aavadi a person called as Rajinder Sima or Ashwin Kumar.
02:23He is contesting from there.
02:25But the question was raised about why BJP did not get Haber or Tinagar or Vela Cheri.
02:30It looks like, you know, no changes have been made so far.
02:32Even after the huge delay.
02:33Aavadi Srinivasan in the current MLA is also contesting from Kwaimur to North.
02:36This is a place where it was expected that probably Anna Malay would go ahead and contest.
02:41But Anna Malay apparently has not decided to do so.
02:43And the seat has once again gone back to Aavadi Srinivasan.
02:46Definitely it caused a lot of ripples inside the BJP for the past three days over it.
02:51And then Vela Vangoda is a constituency that is the southern tip of Tamil Nadu.
02:54And that one has gone to Vijay Dharani who was from Congress and joined BJP almost a year ago.
03:02Pramod, in fact, reports suggest that on the core committee meeting that had happened on Tuesday
03:06and Piyush Goyal, who is Tamil Nadu, in charge, had also said that party leadership had asked former state president
03:15Kee Anna Malay to contest the 2026 elections.
03:19What changed between the last two days and anything that you're picking up from your sources within the BJP
03:25or Anna Malay having released a statement over this development?
03:29Well, Susha, Anna Malay did not release any kind of statement over this.
03:32He wanted to say that he will speak only after May 4th.
03:35That was a cold reply to any kind of question being asked over the alliance or the constituencies that was
03:39acquired.
03:39It kind of like looks like, you know, I will respond to you after May 4th
03:42because only then my calculations will become true or something like that.
03:45But we also came to know that Anna Malay was not happy with the kind of consideration that was, you
03:49know,
03:49I mean, given to BJP by AIDNK because evidently there has been work that was done by Anna Malay and
03:54others
03:55on the ground that did not reflect in this constituencies list.
03:57And then what happened is that, like, we've been told that Anna Malay team had required
04:00either, you know, Mata Kurusi or Singana Lord Mata Kurusi having better options for BJP to win over there
04:06where right now they have fielded Prithika Shivakumar.
04:09But Anna Malay apparently wanted either, you know, he was told that he might go ahead for Coimbatu North
04:14but that one has also gone to Banati Singh Vinivasan, making Anna Malay, making sure that he is not contesting
04:18in this election to Asia.
04:21All right.
04:22But again, to harp on what has been happening till now and that will indicate whether this was a last
04:27-minute decision
04:28or whether this was just something that was brewing and can this lead to any sort of infighting as far
04:34as the Tamil Nadu BJP is concerned
04:36because several BJP leaders who also said reportedly that Anna Malay had agreed to contest
04:41if any one of the six assembly segments within the Coimbatur parliamentary constituency would have been given to him.
04:47Now, there were preferred names in these six assembly segments, but clearly Anna Malay has been kept out.
04:56It surely is, Swesha, because if I could see the list over here, the reserve constituency,
04:59Avinash, she has gone to the present sitting minister and Murugan.
05:02And then Tirupur as south has gone to Tangaraj, Coimbatu, north is Varadi Singh Iwasan.
05:06So this is a kind of belt where it was expected, like, you know, either AIDNK will have to swap
05:11and that's the reason even BJP carers actually protested at Gandhava Kotei, at Parani,
05:15and also in Chennai demanding that either Gandhava Kotei or Parani or Teenaga from AIDNK should be swapped for BJP.
05:22But that did not happen.
05:23And the important aspect here is that, like, even earlier, Varadi Srinivasan,
05:26whose name is right now to contest from Coimbatur north,
05:29she actually said on camera that, you know, Anna Malay should contest and we'll make sure that he contests,
05:34but we don't see his name anywhere over here.
05:36And this is definitely not going to be, make happy, you know, not going to make the carers of BJP
05:41happy,
05:41the state of Tamil Nadu, which they have already reflected quite often.
05:43Perhaps that is a delay in issuing this list right now, Svesha,
05:46because probably tomorrow, day after, there is no possible way of finding the nominations.
05:51That last, day six is the main day that they have to do.
05:54Interestingly, even Congress has not yet released their list so far, Svesha.
05:59All right, Pramod, do stay on.
06:00Let's also bring in Akshita into this conversation.
06:02Akshita, the list has come out and Anna Malay's name does not feature on this list.
06:08Now, lots of reports are also talking about the dissent within the Tamil Nadu BJP.
06:12And although Piyush Goyal has been holding back-to-back meetings,
06:16but, you know, how prevalent is it?
06:19And clearly not a good sign for the party at this time.
06:23How are you looking at this development?
06:28Well, first of all, I would say, Svesha, no surprises that Anna Malay's name is not in that list
06:33because there's been a whole lot of back-and-forth.
06:35But reportedly, over the last many days, Anna Malay held his ground,
06:38saying, I do not want to contest.
06:40There was pressure from the high command,
06:41which is why even when Piyush Goyal came in last time,
06:44Anna Malay was in Puducheri.
06:45He was summoned immediately to be a part of the meeting.
06:47And he again communicated to the high command that he does not want to contest.
06:51So, despite pressure from the BJP high command from Delhi,
06:55very clearly he's put his foot down, said, I don't want to contest.
06:58And that has been stuck too.
07:00So, his name is not in the list.
07:01There was only one possibility.
07:03Would he get a Coimbatore North seat?
07:05But that would have meant dethroning someone like Avanati Srinivasan,
07:08who is an MLA.
07:09And you have to give due regard, due respect to someone
07:11who's managed to be a giant slayer in 2021, having beaten Kamal Hassan.
07:16But let's be very, very clear here in stating that the Tamil Nadu BJP is in absolute shambles.
07:21You know, a party like BJP, which has very often taken a no-nonsense approach
07:25to dissent, to infighting, to revolt, rebellion, to public outbursts,
07:29is facing all of that in the state of Tamil Nadu.
07:32There's been a delay in them releasing the candidate list for that very reason.
07:36The national high command and the command in Delhi
07:39has been trying to intervene for the last many days.
07:42Piyush Goyal strips back and forth.
07:44Two days ago, when he was in Chennai,
07:45the announcement was the candidate list would be out then.
07:48It didn't happen. Why? Because the impasse continued.
07:51And this is very, you know, unlike the BJP to have these kind of issues.
07:55So it speaks volumes of how really it seems like the Tamil Nadu BJP
07:59is split right now into two factions.
08:01Where you have the younger guard, most of whom, by the way, have been ignored.
08:05You think Anna Mala, you think S.G. Surya, I think Vinod Selvam,
08:08none of them have actually been accommodated.
08:10Whereas the older guard seems to have found their place.
08:13Nairnard, Nagendra, Nairnard, Murugan, Vanati, Srinivasan,
08:16they've all found the seats that they wanted.
08:18But it looks like there's a rift
08:20and the high command has been unable to kind of bury those differences.
08:24You know, there was talk of Home Minister Amit Shah,
08:26of Prime Minister Narendra Modi holding events in Tamil Nadu.
08:29All of that was scrapped in light of this non-stop infighting.
08:33So much so that Prime Minister Modi,
08:35who was supposed to be a part of a Chennai roadshow,
08:37that's not happening.
08:38They cancelled that as a result of the fact
08:40that the BJP couldn't kind of bury all their differences
08:42and have a candidate list out.
08:45It's come out extremely last minute.
08:47And at this point, we also understand
08:49that the Prime Minister could be holding a core committee meet
08:52to kind of crack the whip
08:53and tell the state BJP unit to get their act together.
08:56Is it too late?
08:57We're just two weeks away from an election.
08:59Well, the candidate list is out now.
09:01We'll have to see whether they're able to put up a united face or not.
09:04As far as the Anna Malay question goes,
09:06look, let's be clear that there's no rebellion per se on his part.
09:09He stood his ground saying,
09:10I don't want to contest.
09:11Yes, that was very important messaging by him.
09:13But is he going to leave the party already?
09:15Some such comments?
09:17Not really.
09:17Because even as we speak now,
09:19he's in Karnoor campaigning for the BJP.
09:22So that's where things stand right now.
09:23There's a larger issue here, Suwesha,
09:25that the BJP has to address.
09:27But Pramod's also right in highlighting
09:28that it seems the two national parties really,
09:31in Tamil Nadu or in Shambles,
09:32the BJP and the Congress,
09:33because, mind you,
09:35with just about one day left for nomination,
09:36which is Monday,
09:38the Congress still hasn't released their candidate list.
09:42Oh, yes, absolutely.
09:43Anakshita, now that the list is out,
09:45the other factor, of course,
09:46being to how largely has the AIDMK called the shots,
09:50because also details came out
09:52of how there was a delay,
09:54not just because of Piyush Goyal having reached Chennai
09:56and then important decisions to be taken,
09:58but AIDMK really calling the shots.
09:59That's also one of the factors
10:01that Annamalai was reportedly miffed about.
10:03What are you picking up from your sources?
10:09So, yes, 100% Suwesha.
10:11You know, when the 27 seats were announced
10:14for the BJP,
10:15many believe that the BJP could have bargained
10:17harder for the number.
10:18But there was a rise,
10:19considering 20 seats in 2021
10:21versus 27 seats in 2026.
10:23But when the details of which seats were allocated
10:25really came to the fore,
10:26that's what led to a lot of discussion,
10:28debate and protests also.
10:30Look, there were BJP Cardo
10:31who gathered in several seats
10:33and started saying,
10:34why did we not get certain strongholds
10:36which were easy battles
10:37for the Bharatiya Janata Party?
10:39So, somewhere it seems that the AIDMK
10:41managed to get the seats that they wanted
10:43and then handed over the rest to the BJP.
10:46There were questions about
10:46whether the BJP did the kind of negotiation
10:49that they should have bargained right
10:51with the AIDMK or not.
10:52So, the AIDMK has very, very clearly
10:54called the shots.
10:55Yes, there were also reports
10:56that suggested that
10:57in the aftermath of so much criticism,
10:59there was talk of seat swapping
11:01of the AIDMK and BJP
11:03kind of agreeing to
11:04shift some seats here and there,
11:06especially in the Congo Belt.
11:07None of that happened.
11:09None of that has happened.
11:09The AIDMK held their ground
11:11and said,
11:11these are the seats,
11:12we're willing to go ahead,
11:13take it,
11:13and we're not going to
11:15at any point negotiate beyond that.
11:17So, it's very clear
11:18who the leader in this alliance is.
11:20You know, the BJP has always said
11:21that the NDA is led
11:22by the AIDMK in Tamil Nadu,
11:24that the bigger responsibility
11:26in Tamil Nadu
11:27is with the AIDMK,
11:28not so much the BJP.
11:29The BJP is the secondary partner here,
11:31so they kind of sit back
11:32and let the AIDMK call the shots.
11:34But at what cost?
11:35Has it been at the cost
11:36of the BJP's growth
11:38in Tamil Nadu,
11:39that while they're playing
11:39second fiddle,
11:40they've really forgotten
11:41their own interests in the state?
Comments