K. Annamalai | New chapter

On June 5, 2026, Kuppusamy Annamalai, the 42-year-old former Indian Police Service officer, announced the launch of a “movement” that he envisages to become a regional political party eventually. The movement saw more than 10 lakh registrations on the first day. On the same day, the BJP announced that it had accepted Mr. Annamalai’s resignation from the party.

Reports that Mr. Annamalai would quit the BJP and start a new party was doing the rounds since January. In Tiruppur and Coimbatore districts, Annamalai’s posters came up in the last week of May, indicating an announcement from him soon. He was also not present at a post-election meeting the BJP held in Coimbatore.

Watch: Annamalai’s next move: A new political experiment? | Focus Tamil Nadu

In a letter to the BJP leadership on June 2, Mr. Annamalai said his views do not align with BJP leaders regarding Tamil Nadu. He had had multiple conversations and disagreements with them for 18 months regarding the State. “I firmly believe that a strong and united India is built upon the strength, dignity and aspirations of its many regions and communities,” he wrote in the letter to BJP president Nitin Nabin.

Mr. Annamalai’s political journey began in 2020 when he was identified by B.L. Santhosh, general secretary of the BJP as a potential leader. He quit as the Deputy Commissioner of Police (South), Bengaluru, and joined the BJP in 2020. He was appointed vice president of the party for Tamil Nadu in a few weeks and contested the 2021 Assembly elections from Aravankurichi in Karur district.

He lost to R. Elango of the DMK. In July 2021, he took over as the BJP’s Tamil Nadu State president. At the age of 37, he became the youngest leader to head the BJP State unit, from July 16, 2021 to April 11, 2025.

Crowd puller

His ‘En Mann, En Makkal‘ padayatra started in July 2023 was a crowd puller in many parts of the State, and attracted several youngsters to the party. However, his remarks against the AIADMK ideology and some of its leaders that year led to the AIADMK severing its ties with the BJP and exiting the National Democratic Alliance.

Mr. Annamalai had vociferously pushed for the BJP contesting the elections in Tamil Nadu without an alliance with the AIADMK. For the 2024 Parliamentary elections, Mr. Annamalai brought the Pattali Makkal Katchi, Tamil Maanila Congress, and the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam to the Tamil Nadu NDA. He contested from Coimbatore and lost to Ganapathi P. Rajkumar of the DMK.

It is said that AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami wanted Mr. Annamalai to be removed from the post of the State president for the AIADMK to ally with the BJP for the 2026 Assembly elections.

Born in an agrarian family at Thoppampatti in Karur district on June 4, 1984, Mr. Annamalai graduated in Mechanical Engineering from the PSG College of Technology in Coimbatore and went on to do his MBA at the Indian Institute of Management- Lucknow. He joined the Indian Police Service (IPS) in the 2011 batch under the Karnataka cadre and served in Karnataka till 2020. 

He launched ‘We the Leaders’ as a foundation in 2019-20, even before he joined active politics, and it focuses on organic farming, grassroot leadership, skilling and empowering through sports. With Mr. Annamalai inviting those interested in his movement to register with ‘We the Leaders’, there were 13,17,808 registrations as of the afternoon of June 6.

In an address to the public on June 5, after quitting the BJP, Mr. Annamalai said he was inspired by the policies of former President of India A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. He said he would bring constructive politics that would be clean and no “permanent chair” for anyone, including him. “We will have to come out of cult politics. This will be common man politics,” he said in an address on social media platforms.

He also announced the establishment of APJ Abdul Kalam Centre for Ethics and Politics in Coimbatore to train and prepare people for political leadership. Mr. Annamalai is expected to field candidates in the local body elections in Tamil Nadu and participate in the 2029 general elections.