- 12 minutes ago
Former Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai, at the India Today Roundtable, spoke about his decision to quit the party and launch his grassroots movement, ‘We the Leaders’. He said the BJP’s decision-making had become excessively Delhi-centric and criticised the concentration of major national projects in Gujarat. Turning to Tamil Nadu’s political landscape, Annamalai described the first 100 days of Chief Minister Vijay’s TVK government as a “fresh breath” in state politics and praised its anti-corruption stance, while saying the administration was yet to demonstrate a clear long-term vision. He said ‘We the Leaders’ aims to build a base of 50 lakh volunteers before evolving into a political party, with a focus on grassroots activism and social work rather than conventional electoral spending. Annamalai also claimed that traditional Dravidian parties such as the DMK and AIADMK had no long-term future unless they underwent significant “internal re-engineering” and moved away from dynastic politics.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Mr. Annamalai, welcome. Welcome, madam.
00:02Welcome. What have the last few months been like?
00:05Annamalai, beyond BJP.
00:07Good months, madam. We are on our own now, building a movement
00:12and grassroots activism, generating next set of leaders.
00:15Very exciting times for us.
00:17Lots to discuss, but I'd like to begin with the decision that you've taken
00:21to leave the BJP.
00:24How did that play out?
00:25Because you have started speaking up about, you know,
00:28the conversation that you had with the BJP high command.
00:31Was it a sense of restlessness?
00:33Was it anger? Was it frustration?
00:34What drove you to take that step finally?
00:37I've been having this conversation with our top leadership for a long time now.
00:41It is not, when I came into the BJP,
00:45we had a lot of conversation about how BJP should be in Tamil Nadu
00:49and the way forward for the next 10 years.
00:51And 24, we contested alone.
00:53Local bodies, 21, we contested alone.
00:5526, we went back to an alliance.
00:57I felt Tamil Nadu is ready for a change.
01:00It is restless.
01:00It is very young.
01:02And I felt we are not listening to those voice.
01:05And I'd want a new set of governance, new ideas.
01:08Probably I felt we are not hearing it better.
01:10And then all political parties, it happened.
01:13And so, and also I felt in a place like Tamil Nadu with,
01:17I don't have anything against the Honorable PM or the HMR,
01:20all the top leadership.
01:22Seeing from an all India perspective for a state sitting in Delhi,
01:26it might not work all the time.
01:28And I continuously believe there can be regional parties with a national character.
01:33It is not national parties alone have to have a national character.
01:36And many regional parties can put their state first within a national framework.
01:40I felt there is a space in Tamil Nadu for that.
01:43And second, people wanted to hear new things.
01:45All the time we are defending in Tamil Nadu.
01:47Something happens in UP, something happens in Orisa.
01:49We keep defending it.
01:50I wanted to come out of that.
01:52So, I mentioned this in October, November, before the election only.
01:56I was asked to stay till the elections are over.
01:59That is how I live my life.
02:00I never fight with people.
02:01I never make it a big noise and come out.
02:03I waited patiently.
02:04After May, I went and told them,
02:06look, we have severe disagreements, but I don't want to make it public.
02:09I want to go on my own.
02:10I build a movement with a new set of leaders.
02:13Start from grassroots.
02:15And probably the vision of Tamil Nadu,
02:17we want to realize through, are we the leaders?
02:19And one day, if you have to become a political party,
02:21we'll become a political party.
02:22As of now, we are a social movement.
02:24That's how the whole conversation panned out.
02:26You could have changed that, though.
02:27If you stuck on in the BJP,
02:29you've now candidly said that, you know,
02:31you were offered a role in Delhi.
02:32So, you maybe could have changed that perspective.
02:34Being in Delhi, someone who understands Tamil Nadu,
02:37is that something you never considered?
02:39That is a matter of perspective, madam.
02:41You can be in Delhi, you can take a party role or a government role
02:44and continue to serve Tamil Nadu.
02:45That is one way.
02:46The other way that you dream about an alternate future
02:49you come down to the grassroots level,
02:50you start building it up, sweating it out in the grassroots.
02:53Maybe five years, maybe ten years.
02:54I don't know.
02:55But you start building it up.
02:56I think for me, this gives more happiness
02:58than being in some role.
02:59Again, every role comes with a sense of responsibility.
03:02It also comes with a sense of a problem.
03:05Both comes together.
03:05So, I felt here, we have more freedom
03:07to do what we want to do.
03:08And we are listening more to people, their aspirations.
03:11I felt I am always better when I do this,
03:14not get straight jacketed, not get pushed into a role.
03:17So, for me, this gives a lot of happiness
03:19because I have to stay true to my original purpose.
03:21Why did I leave something and come here and did it?
03:24I always did it because I felt the change comes from grassroots
03:28and that change is permanent
03:29and that change should be visible also.
03:31I never regret I should be in Delhi taking some role.
03:35I never do that, ma'am.
03:37For you, with We the Leaders,
03:38you've been saying that you're going to move into politics soon.
03:41I mean, there's no clear, concrete timeline.
03:44But what's the vision here?
03:45What is the vote bank you'll be looking at?
03:48You know, who exactly will you reach out to
03:51with this kind of movement?
03:52You keep speaking of alternative, of change.
03:54Many would say that space has been filled up by Vijay, by TVK.
03:58I think one poll is filled up.
03:59Other poll is not filled up.
04:00There is only one poll.
04:02After 60 years, whatever has happened in 2026,
04:05one poll has come very strongly
04:07and this TVK poll will be there for a longer time
04:10than what people perceive it to be.
04:12I think there is a space for another poll.
04:14I think both parties can compete on good politics,
04:18continue to talk to Tamil Nadu public for the next 30-40 years.
04:22The other poll, along with TVK, can serve Tamil Nadu public.
04:24That is how I see it.
04:25And second, a change doesn't mean that a visible change is going to happen.
04:31So, 100 days of TVK, I think the CM came in the morning.
04:34The ministers also spoke.
04:36And it is for the people in the next two years to see
04:38whether any visible change has happened
04:40or it is only slogan or something.
04:41I particularly believe governance, ex-bureaucrats,
04:46people who have a domain knowledge, expertise, skills,
04:50and those kind of people should come into power over a point of time.
04:53And this is our vision.
04:54And we believe right now the leadership is top heavy.
04:57Either it is Delhi-based or Chennai-based.
04:59And we want to take the leadership right down to the Taluk level, to the district level.
05:03That is where the organization is called We the Leaders.
05:05And you've got to keep the leadership at that level where the people debate.
05:09Just yesterday, Independence Day,
05:11we advised our people to participate in all the Gram Sabahs of Tamil Nadu,
05:1412,525 Gram Sabahs.
05:16We said, please go and participate.
05:18I think we want to build a third tier of government from there going all the way up.
05:22This for us is progress.
05:24And not changing a government, somebody coming and sitting in that seat
05:27and probably giving a speech, I don't see it as a change.
05:30Is this wishful thinking, Mr. Annamalai?
05:32Is this change actually possible?
05:35When somebody works for it, it is possible.
05:37When somebody only speaks about it, it is not possible.
05:40You've got to work for it.
05:41That is why when somebody asks me, give me a timeline,
05:43when do you want to become a political party?
05:44I keep saying, look, there is no timeline.
05:47When there is a space for a new politics,
05:49a political party will emerge.
05:51That's how politics works.
05:52We can't force feed ourselves to Tamil Nadu public to say,
05:55look, we have a political party, please vote for us.
05:57It doesn't work that way.
05:58That is why I keep telling our volunteers and people,
06:00keep working in the ground, one step at a time.
06:02In 73 days, we have about 20 lakh people as volunteers.
06:06Keep doing.
06:06We have a transparent online counter.
06:08Anybody can see it.
06:09The day we reach 50 lakh, we'll talk about it.
06:11As we speak, there is somebody joining.
06:13Next minute, somebody is joining.
06:14Every minute, we have one volunteer joining.
06:16Why? Because he's looking at the activity we are doing.
06:18This month alone, in the month of August, 17 days today,
06:21we have cleaned about 101 tons of plastic weight.
06:24People are doing that, doing that.
06:26They're making their hands dirty.
06:28They're cleaning the ponds.
06:29They're cleaning the rivers.
06:30Now, political parties, you tell me, madam,
06:32it has become more like a slogan shouting now.
06:34Which political party is doing social service now?
06:36Many political parties have done social service.
06:39They have become political party.
06:40Now, political parties have become either I am right or you are wrong.
06:43Now, but we don't want to get into that space.
06:45Create a set of leaders by doing actual social work.
06:48Then you genuinely aspire to come to power.
06:50When somebody asks me a timeline, the only timeline I give is, let us reach 50 lakh.
06:53Once we reach 50 lakh, which means there is a space.
06:56People will genuinely want this social movement to become a political party.
07:00I genuinely believe in it.
07:01If you ask me a time frame, I don't know.
07:03It might be a year.
07:03It might be a year and a half.
07:05But be at it.
07:06And when you become a political party, please give, our thing is always, please give answers
07:11to long-standing problems.
07:14Meghadatu, I saw Mr. Anbhumbani speaking in the previous session.
07:17We have very genuine answers for a lot of our old social problems.
07:21We want to present that to the public.
07:22Not get into, the government is always wrong, the opposition is always right.
07:26We don't want to do that kind of politics.
07:28But not wishful thinking, but I think there is a space.
07:31You said 70 days of We the Leaders movement and 100 days of the TVK government that we are
07:37marking with this round table.
07:38What do you think of Chief Minister Vijay's performance so far, Mr. Annamalai?
07:42It's a very fresh breath that has come into Tamil Nadu politics after a long time.
07:48And normally in Tamil Nadu culture, for a long time, we have seen people falling at each other's
07:53feet and having photos and all waistees having uniform, shirt having.
08:00uniform, even your handkerchief having uniform.
08:03We were making a mockery of Tamil Nadu politics for a long, long time by doing all these kinds
08:07of nonsense.
08:08Now, this first 100 days of TVK, I've seen a fresh breath.
08:11Youngsters wearing pants, wearing waistee, being comfortable in their own skin in the
08:17assembly, not having to look at the leader every two minutes to see whether the leader
08:20is okay with me speaking.
08:22That is one good thing I've seen.
08:23I genuinely want this social reformation to continue for the next few decades also.
08:29The second positive thing I'm seeing, this government is genuinely against corruption
08:33that I'm seeing, I'm hearing.
08:35I'm also observing with a lot of our contracts.
08:37It is not like that previous governments, you come, you go and meet this auditor, you
08:41go and meet this family guy, you go and meet this person, then you go and meet this bureaucrat.
08:45Right now, it is not happening.
08:46There's two things.
08:47Negative things.
08:48In the first 100 days, I haven't seen a genuine vision till now.
08:52100 days is a good enough time to see a vision.
08:54What vision they have for Tamil Nadu politics.
08:56I'm yet to see that vision.
08:57I keep telling people, let us give them a year.
08:59100 days is also too less for somebody to speak out their vision.
09:03And right now, I'm not seeing it.
09:04I hope in the next 265 more days before a year is completed, we will see vision.
09:10I'm also seeing there is a governance lacking.
09:12As of now, it's a bureaucratic driven government.
09:14It is not a political executive driven government.
09:17It is more the chief secretary driven.
09:18It is more secretaries driven.
09:20It is more principle secretaries driven and genuinely not seeing political executives giving
09:24their experience, giving their vision to the government outline.
09:28These are the two negatives I see, but maybe it is a beginning.
09:31You have to wait for some more time for the political executives to give more voice to
09:35what they want to do, ma'am.
09:36One of the aspects that you were extremely critical of is, you know, in Tamil Nadu, we've
09:41always seen state versus center.
09:43It's always been state government opposing anything the central government does.
09:47That's changed to a certain extent now, because the Vijay government has said, look, we'll
09:52cooperate with the center to ensure we get what we need for Tamil Nadu.
09:55Do you think that's a positive step?
09:58I think, uh, imagine ma'am, you are the chief minister of Tamil Nadu.
10:01I'm just giving you an hypothetical case.
10:03You are 108 MLS and you genuinely have to cooperate with the center.
10:07And, uh, uh, so I don't think that is a genuine thing that what is happening.
10:12So I would say, I would, yes, ma'am, I would like to wait for some more time, consistency.
10:17And, uh, I would always believe a state and a center has to meet in the middle path, not
10:22there, not here.
10:23But right now the beginning is good.
10:25But, uh, he also, he's also running a very tight ship, very, very tight ship.
10:29The by-elections are, can happen anytime.
10:31And you genuinely don't know what is going to happen.
10:34There was an operation Meghalia that happened to topple this government.
10:37Police have arrested many people.
10:39And still, I don't think Operation Meghalia has ended.
10:41Still, it is on.
10:42So you think there is currently an operation in Tamil Nadu?
10:45Yeah, yeah, 100%.
10:46There's enough evidence of it.
10:47The, the, the opposition parties, the major opposition parties are still not accepted the
10:52situation of what has happened in 2026.
10:54They believe it is just an outlier, something that has happened random.
10:57And they still don't want to respect a crore and 70 lakh people who voted against those
11:01two parties.
11:02Still, I think they are trying to find a front door, back door, which genuinely you can see
11:06in the market if you talk to people, that is genuinely on.
11:09So he has to run a tight ship, balance the settled government, make sure the government
11:13is performing, make sure people don't topple this, make sure people don't buy out TVK MLAs,
11:18make sure he wins all the five by-elections whenever it happens.
11:21So I think Mr. Vijay is in a very, very tough position.
11:24It is not easy to be a CM in Tamil Nadu at this point in time, when the forces are
11:28against
11:28you.
11:29You seem quite soft on, uh, Vijay, Mr. Annamalai.
11:32One year, madam, one year.
11:34I am, I'm very clear.
11:35So right now you're giving him that space?
11:36No, madam, one year we all have to give him a space.
11:38One year when a new chief minister comes, it is our duty to give him that space, duty to
11:42help him to reflect and carry on his vision.
11:44And as of now, I am, I'm supportive of Vijay because I see in Tamil Nadu, every single
11:50opposition party, they come to press, Vijay is bad.
11:53He is bad.
11:54Who is bad?
11:54People are asking them, what have you done?
11:56You are in power for so many years.
11:58What have you done?
11:59This is like 104 MLAs out of 108.
12:02First time MLAs, first time.
12:04First time they went at assembly.
12:05In this 234 assembly MLAs, 154 are first timers.
12:09They don't even know what is an inward file.
12:11What is an outward file?
12:12What is the signature?
12:13It is our duty to guide those government, guide those people to kind of stabilize and sit
12:18in that role.
12:19So I am doing only what a genuine Tamilian should do.
12:22When they make mistakes, we will criticize, we will question, we will ask the right questions.
12:26But I don't think every hundredth day, every time you come and bombard, attack, attack and
12:30say this is not happening.
12:31That is when you ask me to assess, I gave two positives and two negatives.
12:34These are the two negatives I saw, which I am mentioning it.
12:37But again, it's too early, ma'am.
12:39So on one hand, the TVK is called sometimes the B team of BGB.
12:43On the other, you are called the B team of BJP very often.
12:46That you know, you floated this outfit to turn political eventually and eat into a vote
12:52bank that exists for the BJP, but that the Bharatiya Janata party has never been able to
12:56crack because of this, you know, outsider image.
12:58Is that the case, Mr. Arna Malik?
13:01Will there eventually be an alliance with the BJP?
13:04It's unfortunate in Tamil Nadu, anybody who starts fresh is called B team of BJP.
13:08Very, very unfortunate, which is called the B team of BJP.
13:10There's a negative connotation to that.
13:12Yesterday, I saw the organizing secretary of BMK who was calling one TVK minister saying,
13:17you came from BJP, you don't have any right to say.
13:19The same fellows have aligned with BJP in the 1999-2004 elections.
13:23That is the level of political hypocrisy here.
13:26The point I'm trying to communicate, madam, we need not align with anybody.
13:30And BJP is a very different party in its outlook.
13:33As I mentioned, if you ask two or three of our main important goals to keep the leadership
13:37local and BJP keeps leadership at the center.
13:40So, there's naturally no alignment I see.
13:42And second, respecting the PM doesn't mean we have to endorse BJP.
13:46Respecting PM.
13:47PM said, Hargar Diranga.
13:49All the WTL volunteers, we said, please put a national flag in your house.
13:53PM has said, please respect it.
13:54Doesn't mean we are supporting BJP.
13:55It's a very fine line we are taking.
13:57Whenever we have to support the honorable PM, we do it.
13:59Whenever we have to support the honorable CM, we do it.
14:01But people still don't want to get out of this politics.
14:04Ma'am, you know it better.
14:06Tamil people have spoken for a change.
14:08Some politicians are still not ready to listen to it.
14:11Still, they don't want to go back to the old ways.
14:13Abusing, pulling a lady, pulling a mother.
14:17They want to have this kind of thing because they believe genuinely it creates a TV TRP.
14:22So that they continue to be in news for a month.
14:24And some political leaders, Dinas, still want to do it.
14:27They don't even understand the ground has shifted.
14:30And when you genuinely question, they say, oh, you are B team of BJP.
14:32I really don't know.
14:34And only our actions can break this.
14:36And our actions in the next few years.
14:38And the steps we take, and the issues we take up, and the stand we take over each of that.
14:42That is the answer for everything.
14:44We continue to respect Modiji, no doubt about that.
14:46We continue to respect many people in this country.
14:48It doesn't mean we are endorsing BJP for that.
14:51For the BJP themselves, they've struggled in Tamil Nadu.
14:54You've been a part of their journey.
14:55You've worked very hard in trying to increase their footprint.
14:58They're now clearly in their alliance with the AIA-DMK.
15:01That doesn't seem to be going anywhere, at least for now.
15:03Now, in this kind of current political atmosphere, do you see the BJP growing?
15:10Or do you think they're going to take a few steps back in Tamil Nadu in the next few elections?
15:14If you ask me genuinely to assess, I have nobody to assess the BJP because they have cadres and leaders
15:20to assess.
15:21Madam, I believe right now the decisions are becoming Delhi-centric.
15:24So it is very unfortunate that has to change, number one.
15:28And genuinely they have to empower state-level leaders to make actions.
15:31It has to happen.
15:32And the Gujarat-centric model of Delhi development has to change a bit.
15:36And you can't have all the AIA companies going there, all wafer companies going there,
15:402030 Commonwealth Games going there, 2030 Polis Games going there,
15:442036 Olympic Games going to Ahmedabad.
15:46You cannot have this Gujarat model of all India development.
15:49That has to break.
15:50People are watching.
15:51People in Andhra are watching.
15:52People in Tamil Nadu are watching.
15:53People in Kerala are watching.
15:54It has to be a genuine broad-based development.
15:56Only then a national party will be accepted in a tough place like Tamil Nadu.
16:00When you are fair to all the people.
16:02So that I hope.
16:03Because right now, whether you like it or not,
16:05the most powerful person or the second more powerful person in the country
16:08happens to come from Gujarat.
16:09Naturally.
16:10And they happens to be good in their job also as a Prime Minister, as a Home Minister.
16:14So these are the things that see, it is not necessarily you can put a good leader, Madam.
16:17Emotions matter.
16:18And how you function from Delhi matter.
16:20You can't call a core committee in Amitshaji's residence.
16:23I felt so upset when Tamil Nadu, Bari Janata Party's core committee happened in the house of the Home Minister.
16:29I think it is wrong.
16:30From the core committee of a state, any party, it has to happen in Tamil Nadu.
16:35It has happened in this soil, where decisions have to be made for this soil.
16:38Mekadatu, 2021, the same central government said, Karnataka doesn't have any business to build a dam.
16:43It has to come to centre.
16:44The same government in 2026 in Parliament said, Karnataka can build, central permission is not record.
16:49Why this change in five years?
16:50People are watching it.
16:51Because Karnataka elections is coming first in 28, Tamil Nadu is coming second.
16:55You can't make a position based on that.
16:57So people watch.
16:58So the point I am trying to communicate, Madam, it is not necessarily a leader based.
17:02Many decisions you have taken, you take from Delhi, has to be appealing to people across the country.
17:08Everybody should think, okay, they are also taking care of me.
17:10They are also taking care of me.
17:12They are also taking care of Gujarat.
17:13I don't have any problem in Gujarat.
17:15I have a problem with continuously Ahmedabad getting everything.
17:18World Police Games, Commonwealth Games, Olympic Games, maybe Olympic Games committee is formed.
17:23We are not sure who will get it.
17:24That I have a problem.
17:25So this if BJP does it, if Congress does it, Congress did it.
17:2912 years is too long a time.
17:30If you look at Roman Empires also, the average age of an emperor was seven years.
17:33People like Marcus Aureola extended it.
17:36So they have to do a lot of things also to get it right.
17:38I hope and pray nationalism continues to be in Tamil Nadu.
17:42That I am very, very sure because Tamil Nadu cannot be a disparate entity to say we are alone.
17:47That is why when I genuinely feel happy, Tamil Nadu stands with parties that exposes nationalism,
17:53which I have started in a way, but again I said it's too early.
17:56We will continue to do.
17:57We are a strong regional focused movement, later a party, but we are nationalists at heart
18:02because we don't see any dichotomy.
18:03We are very happy to exist in that place.
18:05I have to ask you though, Mr. Annamalai, because every time we've had you at the India Today Conte
18:09level round table, it's been the other way around.
18:11You've been defending the BJP.
18:13Is it hard to criticize the BJP now?
18:16I'm not criticizing, madam.
18:17I've spoken this in the internal meetings.
18:19You have to find the issues and talk about it.
18:21I've spoken this in internal meetings.
18:22I'm always myself.
18:24When I was BJP state president in 2021, we did a protest against Karnataka BJP in Tamil Nadu.
18:29I was summoned to Delhi and I called all the BJP guys.
18:32I said, look, Meghadatho is a burning issue.
18:34We need water.
18:34Karnataka doesn't have a very right to build a dam.
18:36But unfortunately, unfortunately, BJP was ruling Karnataka then.
18:39I was summoned to Delhi.
18:40They asked me, why did you do it?
18:41I said, look, the National Party, we all have to understand.
18:44We have to take our state specific issues.
18:46Our state is important to us.
18:48When you try to push me to achieve a fine balance, you go nobody.
18:51A horse has to either go in this direction or this direction.
18:54You can't tell me a horse should go in the middle.
18:56And you better advise Karnataka BJP that there are better ways to do it.
19:00And we don't have any problem.
19:02Karnataka people are extremely great people, very generous people, kind-hearted people.
19:06I've served in that state for nine years.
19:08As we speak in the Institute of Science, the environment and ecology professor says, no need for Meghadatho.
19:12He says, there is a TG Hali Dam, 2.2 TMC water.
19:15Please get it done.
19:16And Meghadatho Dam, unfortunately or fortunately, happens to come in the current Karnataka CM's own constituency.
19:21He has got a personal agenda to push it.
19:23So this, a party like BJP being in the center has to be fair and neutral arbiter to all the
19:28issues.
19:29This has spoken within the BJP, outside BJP.
19:31But I don't want to be reckless in criticizing BJP.
19:34Okay, CJP happened.
19:35Yes, it happened.
19:36It's very unfortunate.
19:36What happened?
19:37The outpouring, the emotions.
19:39It is also good in a way it happened.
19:41But BJP also has to look at in its own house.
19:44When I mentioned, please talk, everybody pounced on me.
19:46They said, how can you say, you went to Oxford, you have become a foreign agent.
19:49Now, the thing with BJP is, when you genuinely criticize BJP, there are so-called influencers from Delhi.
19:56Immediately, they give you a label called, you are a foreign agent.
19:58I did a program in Oxford.
19:59Yes, same program, P.S. Golgi did it.
20:01He continues to be part of government.
20:03Same program, Anupriya Patel did.
20:04She continues to be part of the government.
20:06But when we say for the CJP protesters, you have a conversation, people call me a stooge.
20:10That is very unfortunate.
20:11A government at 12 years in power should be more open, should be better, willing to listen,
20:16should be willing to debate other ideas also.
20:18That I hope and pray the government does it.
20:20Before we wrap this up, Mr. Anamal, I must ask you this question because it's been asked a lot on
20:25social media.
20:26Who's funding you, sir?
20:29I think you will see when we launch our political party, you will see the records.
20:34As of now, we are not doing anything to get funded.
20:37We are only doing social work.
20:39Hand is a funding, leg is a funding, heart is a funding.
20:42We have three fundings.
20:43Our own hand, our own leg, our own heart.
20:46That is how social action happens.
20:48For example, your Pallachi rally, your big, massive event, or even for any social movements, causes,
20:55you do need the resources to move forward.
20:58I understand the intent, but I think one of the questions that constantly comes up is
21:02when we the leader speaks of transparency, they are asking that question of you as well.
21:06Correct.
21:07All of our, now we the leaders is a registered NGO in our country.
21:10So we file our finances.
21:12People can see that.
21:13When any rally yesterday, something happens in Chennai, the volunteers pull it.
21:17It happens in Pallachi, the volunteers pull it.
21:19Vaigai river cleaning happens, volunteers pull it.
21:21So we want to create that level of a system where, as I mentioned, when the leadership
21:26goes down below, the money also has to be at down below.
21:29So we are very happy where we are.
21:31But if you ask me whether we can contest in a costly election, of course, we don't have
21:35money to contest in a costly election.
21:36I hope and pray people like Mr. Vijay will reduce the cost of elections in Tamil Nadu.
21:41So 2026, what happened is the beginning.
21:43At this level of election funding, parties like us will not even have a chance to contest in
21:48Tamil Nadu.
21:48Any election, we can't even stand there in election.
21:50I hope the election funding comes down drastically in the next few years.
21:53That is our vision prayer.
21:55That is also a reason for us not to start a political party immediately.
21:58It has to come down, acceptability.
22:00You can't large a political party go and stand in front of people with a begging ball.
22:03We don't want to do that.
22:04We want to build our own care, our own leadership potential at the top.
22:08So as I said, since you asked me, what is the funding?
22:10Two hands, two legs and a heart.
22:11That is enough for us to do a social movement.
22:14When you turn into a political party, sir, who do you consider your biggest rival, Vijay or Udenadi Stalin?
22:22I don't see a future for any Dravidian party in this land, madam.
22:26Last time I faced this, I got into a trouble.
22:28I got pulled up in Delhi again when I mentioned a statement about ADMK last time.
22:31I don't see a genuine chance for any Dravidian party ever to exist in Tamil Nadu.
22:37I have good friends here coming from those parties.
22:40Unless they do reformation, Dynast will not work.
22:42You cannot have a leadership transferred like a baton race from A to B to C.
22:47It cannot work.
22:48If BMK is willing to go for a new leader, probably they have a chance.
22:53With the Dynast, whoever be the Dynast, you can do gold-plated foot and gold-plated dress forum.
22:59People are not going to accept. Ground has shifted.
23:02With ADMK, unless they do internal re-engineering, I don't think ADMK as a party will continue to exist in
23:07Tamil Nadu.
23:07I am also not saying that all of us have a future.
23:10We have to work hard for it.
23:12I still believe that the Dravidian parties are living in a la-la land.
23:15They don't want to listen.
23:16They still believe what happened in 2026 was a misnomer.
23:201 crore 78 lakh people foolishly went to election booth, foolishly searched for whistle, and they foolishly voted.
23:26And end of the day, the people who think are the fools.
23:28And I just hope that we will be the alternate pole in the future.
23:32It's a long way off, madam.
23:33Nothing is easy, but we'll continue to work for it.
23:36All the very best.
23:37Thank you, Mr. Annamalai.
23:38Thank you so much for joining us here at the India Today Roundtable.
23:40A warm round of applause, please, for Mr. Annamalai.
Comments