Former Tamil Nadu BJP chief Ok Annamalai on Friday broke his silence over his absence from the get together’s candidate listing for the upcoming Meeting elections, asserting that the choice to remain out of the competition was totally his personal.
Chatting with reporters at Chennai airport after arriving from Coimbatore, Annamalai stated he had formally communicated his choice to the get together management in writing nicely prematurely. “I’ve already knowledgeable the core committee that I can’t contest from any constituency. So, it isn’t that I used to be denied a ticket. The reality is that I didn’t wish to contest,” he stated.
Addressing hypothesis round his omission, Annamalai questioned how the management might have allotted him a seat when he had declined to enter the fray. “How can the management allocate a ticket to me once I don’t wish to contest?” he stated, including that he was clarifying the matter because it had grow to be a topic of media dialogue.
The BJP chief additionally thanked the get together’s central management for respecting his choice and permitting him to marketing campaign for candidates of the NDA alliance. “I’d actively assist alliance nominees within the state,” the previous Tamil Nadu BJP chief added.
Annamalai additionally referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s go to to Chennai as we speak, stating that the PM would meet get together functionaries after concluding his marketing campaign in Puducherry, earlier than heading to Kochi for additional campaigning in assist of the BJP-led alliance.
The clarification got here a day after the BJP launched its listing of 27 candidates for the Tamil Nadu Meeting elections underneath the AIADMK-led NDA, with Annamalai’s absence rising as the most important speaking level.
His identify had earlier been linked to constituencies within the Coimbatore area. Nevertheless, sources had instructed India Immediately TV that he was sad with the seat-sharing association, significantly after the AIADMK retained key constituencies in Coimbatore, broadly considered as a BJP stronghold.
In accordance with sources, the 41-year-old chief had written to the get together’s central management flagging considerations over seat allocation and conveyed his choice to decide out of the elections. He was additionally stated to have pushed for the Singanallur seat to be allotted to the BJP, a request that didn’t materialise as AIADMK chief Edappadi Ok Palaniswami reportedly retained management over seat distribution.
Polling for the 234-member Tamil Nadu Meeting is scheduled to be held on April 23.
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