Coimbatore's K. Annamalai: Can ‘Singham Anna’ Help BJP Establish Itself In Tamil Nadu? (image-X/annamalai_k)The BJP’s state president, IIM Lucknow alumni, and former IPS officer, K. Annamalai, will be facing off against AIADMK’s Singai Ramachandran, an IIM Ahmedabad alumnus, in the Coimbatore Lok Sabha constituency. Making it a three-cornered contest, DMK’s Ganapathi P. Rajkumar will also contest the Lok Sabha elections. According to reports, the main goal of the two Dravidian parties is to defeat Annamalai.
A pet of national media, Annamalai started attracted headline as a politician right after he was announced as the state chief of BJP. He gained attention recently when PM Modi mentioned the Katchatheevu issue, accusing the Indira Gandhi government of giving away the island to Sri Lanka, based on the documents obtained through an RTI by Annamalai.
A stronghold of the CPI (M), the Coimbatore Lok Sabha seat is set to witness a triangular contest between the BJP and the two Dravidian parties. The BJP has won the seat only twice in the past – 1998 and 1999 – with the candidate CP Radhakrishnan, a former RSS and Jan Sangh member and the current governor of Telangana.
Thus, the saffron party has placed all its bets on the popularity of its youngest leader to establish itself in the second-largest city in Tamil Nadu. During his eight-year tenure as an IPS officer, Annamalai created a reputation for being a tough officer as he conducted undercover crackdowns on gutka sales, campaigned against drug abuse, and more. In 2019, he resigned from his post but wanted to continue doing something for the welfare of the people at the grassroots level.
Author of the book Stepping Beyond Khaki: Revelations of a Real-Life Singham (2021), the BJP candidate was fondly called “Singham Anna” by his admirers after the film character Singham. The former Karnataka Cadre IPS officer joined the BJP in 2020 and was appointed as the state president of the party the next year. The 37-year-old leader, known for his composed and fiery speeches, has already caught the imagination of youngsters.
The intense election battle reflects the wider issues faced by the people of Coimbatore, including high operational costs in traditional manufacturing industries, infrastructural developments, rejuvenating water bodies, and rail connectivity.
In an interview with The Hindu, the engineer-turned-politician stated, “The voter is smart and will think – Who has got a serious chance of coming back to power at the Centre? Modiji. Among everyone who will come back, will it be better if the ruling party’s representative wins here, who can solve issues? Who has got a track record of solving problems at different levels?”
The Coimbatore Lok Sabha constituency has around 15.59 percent SC, 0.7 percent ST, 5.92 percent Muslim, and 5.06 percent Christian population. It includes six Vidhan Sabhas, such as Palladam, Sulur, Kayundampalayam, Singanallur, Coimbatore North, and South. Apart from the Coimbatore South segment, which is under the BJP, all the rest of the of the legislative segments have the AIADMK flag.