Annamalai Takes Study Break From Politics, Aid Says No Link To Poll Defeat (image-instagram/ annamalai_kuppusamy)
A month after Tamil Nadu BJP failed to win a single seat in the Lok Sabha election, BJP state President K Annamalai is likely to take a break from politics and head to the UK to participate in the Chevening Gurukul Fellowship for Leadership and Excellence programme offered by the University of Oxford in the UK.
However, as per the BJP source, the three-month fellowship at the University of Oxford was in cards for long that Annamalai has decided on the sabbatical even before the results.
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Annamalai while speaking to the reporters in Coimbatore on Tuesday confirmed his selection of the course but said that the party was yet to grant permission for his overseas visit.
Meanwhile, his break from politics has set off murmurs that BJP’s zero-seat outcome and insufficient support from the senior leaders had led him to take the decision.
The Chevening Gurukul Fellowship for Leadership and Excellence is a programme designed for “young leaders and mid-career professionals with notable leadership potential”. The course begins in mid-September and concludes in December.
Annamalai had reportedly applied for the fellowship earlier this year and attended an interview in Delhi in May.
Annamalai, an IPS officer-turned-politician who was chosen to head the party over several other senior leaders lost in his Coimbatore seat.
He had a high-profile Lok Sabha campaign with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior BJP leaders making frequent visits to the state.
The sources said that though BJP failed to open account in the state, the party has not lost faith in the 39-year-old leader.
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Commenting on the decision of the BJP state chief, a party leader said the break should not be seen as a post-result message. “This is Annamalai’s own decision, not the party seeking to rehabilitate him, or sending him away,” he added.
