Chennai, Apr 12 (PTI) BJP MLA Nainar Nagenthran was on Saturday elected as president of the party’s Tamil Nadu state unit, with outgoing chief K Annamalai declaring that the goal is to oust the ruling DMK from the corridors of power and the path, to be led by Nagenthran, in alliance with the AIADMK is clear.

BJP leader and Union Minister G Kishan Reddy, and party national general secretary Tarun Chugh, at a party meeting here, declared Nagenthran duly elected as Tamil Nadu unit president.

Nagenthran, on taking over as party president said while Annamalai’s style was like a storm, he could be a breeze and expressed confidence of victory for the NDA in the 2026 Assembly polls.

Annamalai, in his address, said the goal is to dislodge the ‘evil shakthi’ the DMK from power in the 2026 Assembly election. Referring to the party joining forces with the AIADMK and with Nagenthran all set to take over as state unit chief, he said the path to be journeyed is also pretty clear and declared that the choice of Nagenthran was unanimous to lead the party in the state.

In an emotive tone, Annamalai recalled that when he took over as state unit president in 2021, party leaders, all seniors and “more qualified,” they worked whole heartedly under his leadership. He was it was his good fortune to have led the party and cadres work for the party’s goal irrespective of the who was at the helm.

In his speech, Nagenthran recalled the services of past presidents, including the outgoing chief Annamalai, L Murugan, Tamilisai Soundararajan, L Ganesan and C P Radhakrishnan and specific initiatives and campaigns undertaken by them, that led to the party’s growth in Tamil Nadu.

He exuded confidence that the NDA would go on to capture power in 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly election and said the BJP alone, as part of the coalition, would win more than 40 seats. On him being elected BJP state unit president, Nagenthran said he would work responsibly and added that he still had an apprehension. It was because Annamalai, be it interaction with journalists or other tasks, his style was unique. “Mine is different. If he (Annamalai) is a storm, I can only be a breeze,” Nagenthran said.

Initially, after joining the BJP about 8 years ago, Nagenthran said he had a disappointment that he had not been given any important positions. However, after he attended training camps of the RSS he had a change of heart.

Nagenthran praised the RSS founder KB Hedgewar and said no other organisation had grown, during the past 100 years, like the Sangh and also sang a song showering praise on Hedgewar. He hit out at the DMK regime and appealed to office-bearers to focus on booth level work. He appealed to Annamalai to start wearing footwear again and said the foundation for removal of the DMK regime has been laid by party leader Amit Shah on April 11, who announced an alliance with the AIADMK.

Annamalai had in December 2024 vowed to remain barefoot, wherever he went, till such time the DMK regime is dislodged from power. He had said that he would resume wearing sandals only following a regime change. Nagenthran appealed to Annamalai: “The regime change is for sure, so please start wearing footwear from now onwards.” Later, Nagenthran presented new footwear to Annamalai on the dais and he resumed wearing footwear after a gap over three months.

Party leaders felicitated Nagenthran on his election as Tamil Nadu unit president. PTI VGN VGN KH