It is a major setback for the BJP that K. Annamalai has resigned from the party. He submitted his resignation on June 5, 2026, and his resignation letter was five pages long.
It is believed that K. Annamalai has resigned due to the BJP's poor performance in the 2026 elections—which included a defeat and a decline in vote share.
Another possible reason could be that he was earlier removed from the post of state president and the responsibility was given to Nainar Nagendran, along with the decision to form an alliance with the AIADMK. These factors may also have contributed to K. Annamalai’s resignation from the BJP.
Before resigning, K. Annamalai held several meetings in Delhi with senior BJP leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP National President Nitin Nabin, and Organization General Secretary B.L. Santhosh. He reportedly had a long discussion with them, and only after these meetings did he submit his resignation.
After leaving the party, he said on social media that he had always been in a dilemma about whether he was “first a BJP worker or a Tamilian.” He also stated that national parties have never been able to properly understand the regional language and aspirations of the people of Tamil Nadu.
After leaving the BJP, K. Annamalai immediately announced a new political movement called “We The Leaders” and an organisation named “Annamalai Makkal Iyakkam" (AMI). ”.
The main objective of this movement is to change the traditional politics of Tamil Nadu, which for decades has been dominated by dynastic politics and a “personality cult” centered around leaders.
This group will work on a common man-centric ideology.
In this group, Annamalai has not chosen titles such as “President” or “Founder” for himself. Instead, he will work for the people as a “chief servant."
This group will operate through the “Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Centre for Ethics and Politics.”
The main focus of this group will be working across five key areas of development.
Education reform, easy access to healthcare, sustainable development, youth leadership, and transparent, data-driven governance.
Soon after the launch of this group, it gained over 5 lakh followers on social media and also started trending on Google Trends under the name “We The Leaders.”
With the launch of this group, K. Annamalai has set his main focus on the 2031 elections.
He was born on June 4, 1984, in Thottampatti village of Karur district, Tamil Nadu, into a normal farming family.
His father, Kuppusamy, and his mother have traditionally been engaged in farming and agriculture.
His wife’s name is Akshaya Annamalai, and they have a son named Siddharth.
He has earned an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow.
K. Annamalai is a well-known young politician from Tamil Nadu and a former state president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Before entering politics, he was an IPS officer.
He is a 2011-batch IPS officer of the Karnataka cadre and has served as the Superintendent of Police (SP) in the Chikkamagaluru district.
He resigned from his position (IPS) in 2019.
He joined the BJP in 2020, after which he launched the “En Mann, En Makkal” padayatra, which made him widely popular in the party and among the public.
Annamalai has a strong interest in organic farming. After leaving his IPS job, he returned to his village and worked in organic farming for quite some time.
He is known to be quite spiritual by nature. In 2018, when he undertook the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, it was considered a major turning point in his personal life. He later said that the journey brought him great inner peace, and he decided to leave his job and dedicate himself to serving ordinary people.
K. Annamalai has a strong interest in reading books. He reads books related to global philosophy, politics, history, and economics.
During his IPS training, he was very conscious about his fitness and considered yoga and running an important part of his daily routine.
