The development comes days after differences emerged between Annamalai and the party following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s absence at the Coimbatore airport during his visit.However, just hours after the names of the candidates were announced, Annamalai said he would stand shoulder to shoulder for all the candidates with the aim of helping the NDA win 210 seats in the upcoming assembly elections.“Hearty congratulations to all BJP victorious candidates declared for 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. He supports every brother and sister of Tamil Nadu who is tired of corruption, complacency and betrayal of DMK,” Annamalai said.He said, “As a worker I will stand shoulder to shoulder and campaign for all our victorious BJP and other NDA candidates with the aim of making NDA win 210 seats in the upcoming assembly elections.”Why was Annamalai marginalized?Nearly a year before the assembly elections, the BJP had removed Annamalai as state president, a decision widely seen as aimed at reviving Edappadi’s ties with the Palaniswami-led AIADMK.Reportedly, Palaniswami had set a pre-condition before the alliance talks – excluding Annamalai, given his brutal attack on the AIADMK.

Following this development, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said that “Annamalai’s organizational skills will be leveraged within the national framework of the party.”The alliance was finalized for the upcoming assembly elections. AIADMK will contest on 178 seats, BJP on 27 seats and the PMK faction led by Dr. Anbumani Ramdas will contest elections on 18 seats.TTV Dhinakaran-led Amma Makkal Munnetra Katchi will contest 11 seats in the elections. This distribution reflects the seat-sharing agreement between the NDA allies in Tamil Nadu.Meanwhile, another blow to his followers came on February 3, 2026, when an angry Annamalai stepped down as election in-charge of six assembly constituencies – Karaikudi, Singanallur, Srivaikuntam, Virugambakkam, Madurai (South) and Padmanabhapuram – citing his father’s ill health.The leaders were reportedly upset at being restricted to only six out of 234 assembly seats.Additionally, Annamalai’s name was also missing when the Tamil Nadu BJP formed an assembly election management committee under its state chief Nainar Nagenthran on 11 February.While Nageenthran was named as the head of the committee, former Union Minister and party national executive member Pon Radhakrishnan was named as the coordinator.How caste played its roleCaste dynamics also appear to have played a role in Annamalai’s sidelining. Both he and EPS belong to the Gounder community.Annamalai’s emergence as a potential Chief Minister was perceived by the AIADMK as a direct challenge to the dominance of the EPS within the alliance.Gounders fall in the backward class category and constitute about 5% to 7% of the population of Tamil Nadu. They are largely concentrated in western Tamil Nadu or the Kongu Nadu region, which includes districts such as Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Erode, Namakkal, Karur and Salem.After the death of J Jayalalitha, Edappadi K Palaniswami, a Gounder, took control of the AIADMK, bypassing the Sasikala family and O Panneerselvam, and handed over key cabinet portfolios to community leaders.Annamalai’s tenure as BJP chiefAnnamalai emerged as a crowd puller for the BJP in Tamil Nadu, constantly keeping both himself and the party in the headlines during his tenure as state president while working to expand its base across the state.In December 2024, he publicly whipped himself six times in protest against the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam after the rape of a student at Anna University. In February 2025, he created controversy by threatening to demolish the DMK headquarters, Anna Arivalayam, “brick by brick”. Annamalai also built support among a section of voters through sharp attacks on Dravidian parties and their symbols. He criticized EV Ramasamy and CN Annadurai and at one point described J Jayalalitha as a “Hindutva” leader. He further targeted the ruling DMK with corruption allegations, releasing what he called the “DMK files”. The first part, published in April 2023, included allegations against Chief Minister MK Stalin, his son and minister Udhayanidhi Stalin and other party leaders. The second part, released in July 2023, featured nine DMK ministers accused of corruption.Ahead of the 2024 general elections, Annamalai launched the ‘En Mana, En Makkal’ (My soil, my people) yatra covering all 234 assembly constituencies to energize the party workers. While the BJP did not win even a single one of the 23 seats it contested, the party claimed its vote share increased from 3.7 per cent to 11 per cent in 2019.