In the midst of all these speculations that he was not on the list of Bharatiya Janata Party applicants in the upcoming Tamil Nadu assembly elections, former state BJP chief K Annamalai on Saturday made it clear that the decision to remain out of the electoral contest was purely his own.
Annamalai spoke to the reporters in Chennai airport where he made it clear that he did not get a ticket; he did not want to fight and that he had already written to the party leadership about his decision not to enter the fray and to work actively to help the NDA. He also thanked the party leadership, remarking that he respected the fact that they respected his personal choice.
This clarification was issued a day after the BJP had announced its initial list of 27 candidates and Annamalai was not on it, raising speculation of internal sidelining, particularly since the party had rejoined the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). It was a point of debate in the political circles and the media that many had anticipated him to become a bright face of the BJP in the state and his omission made it so.
In response to the rumors, Annamalai asserted that given the fact that this was a widely covered topic in the media, he would like to state that this was a voluntary decision on his part not to contest and that he had written to the core committee indicating that he would not seek a ticket at all. He also said, that had he decided to challenge the seat, the seat would not have been an issue; I was always planning to be on the side of the party and boost our NDA campaign in Tamil Nadu.