Annamalai Padayatra: A walk that created storm

There were many who wondered why an IPS officer, who hanged his uniform and boots, was made the president of Tamil Nadu BJP. The ruling DMK and others had joked ‘Lotus will never bloom in Periyar’s soil’. Will the new BJP manage to dent the Dravidian parties’ hold over Tamil Nadu politics, was the question in everyone’s mind.

Annamalai Kuppusamy has summarily proved his detractors wrong, successfully taking his party across the breadth and length of the state with a single well-played stroke – the ‘En Mann En Makkal’ (My Land, My People) padayatra. A padayatra that could well be a game-changer for Tamil Nadu politics.

Annamalai’s hard work and planning has already paid rich dividends as he established a vibrant connect with hundreds of thousands people from all walks of life during the padayatra, and, at the finale, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave him a spirited pat on the back – a significant public endorsement that itself said a lot.

And this wasn’t his first successful delivery either. In the last local body elections, he took a bold decision of going alone and helped the party win considerably with nearly 14 per cent vote share.Annamalai’s impact on the people’s mind is driven by his articulate delivery, easy approachability, the way he tackles the pro-DMK media, keeps information on his fingertips and his fact-based and no holds-barred attack on the DMK and others.

For the people of Tamil Nadu who long for a better alternative to the reactionary and narrow minded Dravidian model of politics, Annamalai has finally delivered a choice – the BJP.

Pollsters now predict 18 to 20 per cent vote share and 8-10 seats for the BJP without any alliance. The vote share may even touch 20-22 per cent in some constituencies. In case of an alliance, the vote share could go higher.

THE YATRA

Annamalai’s move of meeting people at their door steps was a well-thought-out plan that has worked wonders. Tamil Nadu has seen padayatras earlier too – by MDMK chief Vaiko, and Congress’s Kumari Ananthan (father of Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan). But Annamalai’s yatra was different and achieved the goal it set out to.

It was a veritable game changer in TN politics, playing an end card for the DMK as well as the AIADMK, which came out of the NDA opposing Annamalai’s leadership. They are now in minority appeasement mode.

BJP’s Tamil Nadu padayatra started on July 28, 2023, from Rameshwaram, launched by Home Minister Amit Shah. It concluded on February 28, 2024, at Palladam with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally. What transpired between these two dates has scripted a new political chapter in Tamil Nadu politics – witnessing the phenomenal rise of Annamalai as a politician.

‘En Mann En Makkal‘ yatra covered 9827 kms, 39 Parliamentary constituencies and 234 Assembly constituencies. Annamalai participated in 209 street corner meetings. The total outreach of the yatra is estimated to be 10,98,750 people. Five lakh books (highlighting the various welfare measures launched by the Modi-led Union Government for Tamil Nadu) were distributed during the yatra.

People waited for hours, unaffected by rain, chilly winds, and searing sunrays. They demonstrated their love for him by giving him a variety of presents, including big garlands, towels, shawls, souvenirs, portraits, and so on. One cobbler gave him a church replica he had specially built for him. En route to his yatra, Annamalai made it a point to visit temples, churches, as well as mosques.

Annamalai met people from all age groups, from months-old babies to 90 -year-old men and women. The youth was seen to connect well with him. His speeches, delivered with eloquence in Tamil, English, Hindi, and Kannada, resonated with the people. In a state yearning for a leader untainted by corruption, Annamalai has emerged as the embodiment of hope and integrity.

On this yatra Annamalai said “En Mann En Makkal padayatra has brought political change in Tamil Nadu. It has become a huge people’s movement. For the future of their children, for the development of the youth, the people of Tamil Nadu are determined that there should be an honest political change”.

THE LEADER

The young IIM-educated, former IPS officer Annamalai hails from a humble agricultural family background in Kongu belt. An engineering graduate and a post-graduate in management, Annamalai completed his MBA in Finance from IIM Lucknow.

As a police officer, he was known for his no-nonsense and tough cop attitude. From the day he assumed office as State BJP President of TN, he has stayed true to his image –stoutly exposing the misdeeds of DMK Government and sending out a clear message to the AIADMK not to act as a big brother to the BJP but treat it as an equal in state politics.

For the first time in 40 years, the Tamil Nadu BJP has a dynamic leader who has become a household name in the state in such a short span of time

Annamalai has given many a sleepless night to the DMK top brass, because all corruption charges levelled by him have been backed with documentary evidence. In April 2023, he released DMK files and some audio clips involving DMK MPs A. Raja, T.R. Baalu, Kanimozhi and former intelligence chief Jaffer Zait on how they scuttled the 2G scam probe. Be it his leaked tape of Palanivel Thiaga Rajan (PTR) on the financial affairs of the CM’s son and son-in-law, or charges against minister Senthil Balaji (arrested by ED) – Annamalai’s attacks have dealt a big blow to the ‘first family’ of the state. Annamalai made sure that Senthil Balaji gets arrested and is behind bars. His bail petition has been rejected by the High Court and he has been in prison for nearly 8 months now. Not only DMK , its alliance partners are also smarting from Annamalai’s firebrand politics.

Recognising the significance of Annamalai’s emergence, the Union Government has taken measures to protect his safety and provided him with ‘Z’ level protection and a bulletproof automobile.

Annamalai’s plus points are his eloquent language skills, both in Tamil and English, and the ease with which he meets everyone. Both CM Stalin and AIADMK leader Edapadi Palaniswamy are poor in both the languages. Their incorrect pronunciations and wrong statements of facts have made them a butt of jokes many a times.

AIADMK finds it has no match to Annamalai’s stature and working style. It was very uncomfortable with him from Day One and even spoke to top BJP leaders in Delhi to remove him from the state presidentship for the alliance to continue.

Annamalai’s powerpoint presentation on how the BJP can be a formidable force in Tamil Nadu by 2026 and why AIADMK should be dumped made the BJP’s central leadership take note. In his presentation, he made it clear that even if the BJP doesn’t win a single seat going alone in 2024, he would make sure BJP’s vote share will increase and make a dent in both Dravidian parties’ vote share. This conviction was accepted by the BJP central leadership who gave him a free hand to operate on the ground. This led to AIADMK’s exit from the NDA alliance.

For the first time in 40 years, the Tamil Nadu BJP has a dynamic leader who has become a household name in the state in such a short span of time and has started commanding love and respect from the public. Youngers treat him as their role model and look up to him to take the state into a bright future.