K Annamalai, former Tamil Nadu BJP chief, on Tuesday quit the party after meeting party president Nitin Nabin. The buzz around his resignation had grown over the past couple of days. He is likely to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the evening.

According to reports, he sought a cordial exit from the party and wanted to chalk out his own future course in politics. The exit of Annamalai, who emerged as one of the BJP's most popular faces in Tamil Nadu, has unsettled the party, which is reportedly trying to convince him to reconsider his position.

Meanwhile, speculation is rife that he is considering floating a new outfit, party, or political movement in the state.

He was asked about it while he was leaving for Delhi from Chennai. He did not deny the possibility and said, "Please wait. We will sit down and talk in two days."

His decision coincides with a political churn Tamil Nadu politics has been witnessing over the past six decades. For the first time in almost 60 years, the traditional Dravidian parties, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), have lost power, and that too to a new political party.

Rise of Vijay and shift in Tamil politics

Vijay's entry into Tamil Nadu's political landscape brought a landmark change. For the first time, people voted against hardcore Dravidianism for a softer version, focused more on people-centric governance issues.

The victory of Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) also disrupted assumptions that a fresh political brand cannot rapidly capture public attention. It also proved that the relevance of individual political figures still lingers in state politics.

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Annamalai, being a popular leader on the other side of the aisle, is likely seeing an opportunity for himself.

BJP under Annamalai

Annamalai, an IIM alumnus and a former IPS officer, returned to Tamil Nadu in 2019, leaving his job and starting organic farming. Soon, he entered politics with the BJP and in 2020 became the youngest party president in the state.

He built momentum for the party through aggressive campaigns, extensive grassroots tours, social media outreach, staunch criticism of Dravidianism, and unapologetically raising Hindu causes, often becoming the voice of Tamil Brahmins in a Dravidian-dominant political set-up.

Under his leadership, the party broke away from AIADMK and for the first time got a double-digit vote share in the state in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections despite the party delivering its worst performance pan-India in terms of seats since 2014. The party got 11.24 per cent of the votes, up from 3.66 per cent in 2019.

The BJP limitations

Ahead of the assembly elections in 2025, while the BJP was seeking an alliance with AIADMK, Edappadi K. Palaniswami reportedly insisted on removing Annamalai as state BJP chief, a move that was carried out by the saffron party.

Annamalai has been a critic of AIADMK and was persistent in his view that the BJP should contest solo. He had proved his point by delivering the BJP's best-ever performance in the 2024 general election.

However, the BJP believes it needs a strong regional ally in the state before it can emerge as a strong force, and AIADMK remains the best choice. The BJP's image as a North Indian party, dominated by anti-Dravidian and upper-caste perceptions, has also been flagged by political analysts as a hurdle in its expansion in the South.

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Despite the BJP's strong outreach within OBCs, SCs, and STs, the party has failed to convince a large section of southern voters.

Annamalai is reportedly looking to build a popular movement and turn it into a political party on his own. Although he is yet to reveal his plans, his attempt appears to break away from the complexities and limitations associated with the BJP and use his successful political experience from 2020 to 2025 to fill a vacuum for a new people-centric, pro-governance political movement against TVK.