BJP IT wing head joins AIADMK, insinuates Annamalai is working against the party

Annamalai is secretly bargaining with a Minister, charges Nirmal Kumar

C.T.R. Nirmal Kumar who quit BJP and joined AIADMK in the presence of interim general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami, in Chennai on March 5, 2023. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

BJP Tamil Nadu IT cell and social media unit president C.T.R. Nirmal Kumar on March 5, 2023 quit the party and joined the AIADMK in the presence of its interim general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami in Chennai.

In a statement, he insinuated that BJP president K. Annamalai was working against the interests of the party and was “secretly bargaining with a Minister”. He did not substantiate the charge or mention either Mr. Annamalai or the Minister by name but made it clear that his angst was against the State unit’s leadership.

“I encountered many embarrassments over the past year and a half to the extent possible. I worked honestly but only regrets remain. Adieu,” he said on Twitter.

In a letter, Mr. Kumar said the BJP State leadership used the workers and the party as “footwear” and “spied on” its own functionaries and workers. He said the leadership used the party and the State unit head office for “commercial means”.

Accusing the leadership of leading the party towards destruction, he said, “The party’s structure today is not even 20% of what it used to be in 2019. The person, who is not bothered about it and living in a dream world, could never realise the field reality.”

Mr. Kumar claimed many like him attempted in vain to make the leadership realise the charges. “Above all, while I am waging a legal struggle with a Minister, how can I be with someone [the BJP leadership] who speaks strongly against the Minister in public but secretly bargains with the Minister?”

In January, actor Gayathri Raguramm, who headed BJP State Overseas and Other States Tamil Development Wing, resigned, alleging that the party unit did not provide equal rights and respect to women and women were not safe under Mr. Annamalai’s leadership.

‘Degraded himself’

Reacting to Mr. Kumar’s resignation, BJP State vice-president Karu. Nagarajan said the party was greater than the individual.

He said the BJP works for the development of the nation and the party gets priority over individuals. Mr. Kumar has degraded himself by making such statements while quitting. People will identify those spreading false propaganda for their self-interest.