Chennai, 18/3: Amid a visible strain in ties between the two parties, Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai is believed to have told an internal meeting that he was against an alliance with the AIADMK and opined that the saffron party should go solo beginning with the 2024 Lok Sabha elections if it was serious about emerging as an alternative to the Dravidian parties.
The former Karnataka-cadre IPS officer is also understood to have told the closed-door meeting of state-level office bearers in Chennai on Friday that he would resign from his party post if the central leadership decided to align with AIADMK in Tamil Nadu.
His comments created a stir with at least two leaders who were present in the meeting questioning the need for him to talk about an alliance in a state unit meeting, pointing out that such decisions are taken by the BJP Parliamentary Board in New Delhi.
BJP Mahila Morcha chief and Coimbatore (South) MLA Vanathi Srinivasan and vice-president Narayanan Thirupathy, according to sources, sought clarification from Annamalai after he told the meeting that he was against the party forging an alliance with Dravidian outfits. However, it is also learnt that Annamalai’s speech found support from other functionaries, who believe that the BJP should contest elections on its own