PM Modi praises Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai ahead of Lok Sabha polls, says...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi heaped huge praise on Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai in a recent interview. Prime Minister Modi said that the young, firebrand leader is attracting youngsters and wants to serve the people. Modi also said that after resigning from the Indian Police Service (IPS), Annamalai could have joined the DMK but he joined the BJP for national reasons.

"Annamalai is attracting the youth. They see him and think that if money and corruption were the reasons behind his conduct, then he could have joined the DMK. Annamalai chose the BJP not for personal reasons, but for national reasons," Prime Minister Modi told Thanthi TV in an interview. 

The Prime Minister added that Annamalai is young, articulate and has a strong caste support. "He is young and articulate. He has a strong caste support. He is working for the country as well as Tamil Nadu," Modi said.

Annamalai on PM Modi

Not only this, the Prime Minister also made an appearance during the final event of the high-octane En Mann En Makkal yatra. During this appearance, PM Modi patted Annamalai on the back as he was seemingly impressed with the turnout at the En Mann En Makkal event. 

Talking about this, the young leader told news agency ANI in an exclusive interaction: "I think the pat in not on my back. It is for all the karyakartas (party workers) out there. So, a lot of people have toiled. He was just saying that you out a lot of hard work, the cadres have put a lot of hard work. He was very happy." 

Going ahead, Annamalai further said that Modi knows Tamil Nadu as he has stayed there for a long time. He added that Modi also visited the state many times in the past such as his days as a pracharak.

The Tamil Nadu BJP chief also gave insights into how Narendra Modi reads the minds of the people present at a public rally. "Modi is Modi, there's no comparison," Annamalai said. According to Annamalai, Modi looks at people and knows exactly what is happening. He added that the Prime Minister is always in the moment and ensures that people are comfortable during the rallies. 

Annamalai's Lok Sabha poll debut

Moreover, the BJP has fielded Annamalai as their Lok Sabha candidate from the communist stronghold Coimbatore in the southern state. Soon after Annamalai's candidature was announced, the ruling DMK withdrew the communist candidate and fielded their own candidate instead. 

Commenting on this, Annamalai said that DMK "played a very interesting game" as they knew the BJP is going to pose a strong challenge, thus, replacing the communist candidate with their own as the communists would never cede Coimbatore.

"DMK has taken that seat back because DMK believes by sheer muscle power and money power they can take that seat away from anybody," he further said. Coimbatore has got communist MLAs for a long time.

The seat has been won seven times by the Left, five times by the Congress, twice by the DMK and the BJP and once by the AIADMK. The BJP was the second biggest winner on the seat in the 2004, 2014 and 2019 general elections. 

He added that clinching the Coimbatore seat is a big challenge as every party has got a certain assured voter base there. Annamalai believes that the BJP's tally could go up in the communist stronghold because the developmental policies of the party have reached the industry and the beneficiaries of Coimbatore in the last 10 years.