Annamalai— This young former IPS and BJP leader has taken Tamil Nadu by storm

‘Supercop Udupi Sigham’. He is a legend in Karnataka. He is Annamalai Kuppusamy. The man managed to get into an IIM, turned down placement and turned to civil services. He took a tough stance against communalism and riots. A legend in Karnataka, Annamalai is now all set to become a legend in Tamil Nadu. 

He speaks his mind. He has latched onto the local anti-BJP media in Tamil Nadu. He is exposing how the local media conned the people by making a bogeyman out of the BJP and Prime Minister Modi. He is not the kind of politician a journalist can mess around with. He is sharp and witty, and every time someone tries to take him on, he uses it as an opportunity to capitalise upon. 

Meet K Annamalai- the youngest BJP Tamil Nadu state unit President to date

Annamalai had an illustrious career as a police officer. He is a former 2011 batch IPS officer of the Karnataka cadre. He served as the superintendent of police of Chikkamagaluru and Udupi districts.

 Before quitting police services in September 2019, he also served as the DCP in Bengaluru (South).

Annamalai’s political career too has risen dramatically. He joined the BJP in August 2020. He was made the state unit chief within a year of joining the party. Annamalai hails from the Karur district in the Kongu region of Tamil Nadu and comes from an agricultural family. His rise in political ranks is thus, spectacular.

How Annamalai is boosting BJP in Tamil Nadu?

Annamalai is what BJP was missing in Tamil Nadu. He is quite clear about his ideology and what he wants. He has openly declared, “I don’t want to be like a typical Tamil politician. I’m clear. If you fit me into a Dravidian politician mould, I’ll be happy that I don’t fit into that mould.” Annamalai said, “I don’t want to fit into the typical Dravidian political mould. I stay away from that. So I’ll be happy if people pass that as genuine criticism. I’ll take that as an appreciation.” 

Annamalai is quite clear about one thing, that he is not going to placate the pro-Dravidian local media. He is happy to invoke the real Tamil culture and wears his anti-Dravidian image on his sleeves. 

The art of using media platforms to expose media

How did PM Modi become what he is? Well, he was not afraid of hostile media. You know how the media tarnished his image when Mr Modi was the Gujarat Chief Minister. English media even called him names. And he took it all in his stride. Every time something was said against PM Modi, he had a reply and with every reply, the media got exposed badly. And this made him a big leader. 

Same with is with Donald Trump. The American mainstream media thought that he is not a serious challenger to the 2016 Democrat Presidential candidate Hilary Clinton. The media ridiculed and mocked him, but Trump made it a point to call them out on their face. And well, you know how Trump became the President, much to the shock of the American left. 

And Annamalai is no different. He doesn’t back off if the local media wants to stage a shouting contest with him, and tells them that he is going to go about his job no matter what. The local language media is however different from national media. It doesn’t come into the spotlight and for instance, if a local media outlet says something outrageous, it would simply miss the attention. 

So, you need an Annamalai to point it out and bring it to your attention. BJP always needed someone like him to debunk false propaganda and encourage the resurgence of the rich Tamil culture. 

https://twitter.com/pradeep_gee/status/1477692788770689026?s=20

K. Annamalai is a great find for the BJP. He is young, dynamic, popular and, just the kind of leader the party needs to awaken people. He is working as a bridge between the BJP and the state of Tamil Nadu. Step-by-step, he is overcoming obstacles like false propaganda by local language media and Dravidian nationalism. 

With Annamalai, BJP has cracked the code in Tamil Nadu and he is already becoming a huge phenomenon in the state.