Will PM Modi contest 2024 elections from Tamil Nadu? Annamalai addresses elephant in room

With speculations rife that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will contest the 2024 General Elections from Tamil Nadu, the state's BJP President K Annamalai said that the premier has transcended the regional barrier and is considered an "insider" and not an "outsider" in the southernmost state. 

During the ANI podcast, Annamalai told Smita Prakash, "Modi ji is seen as an insider. In fact, if you look at the Tamil news for the last month, somebody has started a rumour that Modi ji is fighting from Tamil Nadu for one of the seats. Everywhere you go, people ask (whether PM Modi will contest from Tamil Nadu)."

Notably, in 2019, PM Modi contested from the Varanasi seat in Uttar Pradesh, which he won by a margin of 4,79,505 votes. PM Modi polled 6,74,664 votes, while his nearest rival Samajwadi Party candidate Shalini Yadav polled 1,95,159 votes. In 2014, the Prime Minister contested from two constituencies - Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and Vadodara in Gujarat. He won both seats but represented Varanasi.

'Ramanathapuram is what the rumour says...'

Acknowledging that 'PM Modi contesting from Tamil Nadu' has become the talking point in the state, Annamalai narrated how recently at a tea shop in Thoothukudi someone asked him about the veracity of the speculations. 

Pondering upon the constituency the Prime Minister would choose, the BJP state President said, "Ramanathapuram is what the rumour says. So people have picked up the rumour. It is all a rumour. But people are commenting...They are talking... They want Modi ji to contest. This is seen as a sign that Modi ji is seen as an insider and not an outsider from any distant part of India."

Annamalai also took the platform to highlight how in Tamil Nadu PM Modi has blurred the lines such as outsider, and regional identity. 

"Caste identity, Tamil-based identity and a lot of things go into people's minds in deciding who they vote for. But Modi ji has transcended everything. Probably he is the first outsider in Tamil Nadu. Nobody has done it. It is a sign that Modi ji has transcended everything. 2024 would be a very different election," emphasised the Tamil Nadu BJP chief.

'Alliance with AIADMK based on certain principal'

Asked about the BJP's alliance with AIADMK, Annamalai said, "We are not against any party or person. We are very clear that BJP has to become very strong. It is not an alliance of convenience like DMK. It is an alliance of respect. We have many disagreements with AIADMK, but it is based on certain principal, we align with each other."

He added that BJP has to have its own identity in Tamil Nadu and the party will work hard to translate PM Modi's popularity into votes.

"We want to sit with alliance partners with strength and respect. That is why we want to change the public impression also. We contested alone in the recent local body polls. We want to see where the party stands. Local body polls were a great opportunity for our booth-level workers. Modiji's image is fantastic in Tamil Nadu. We have to make that connection and convert that into votes," said the Tamil Nadu BJP President.

'The wave was in Tamil Nadu since 2014'

Annamalai also claimed that the BJP has a strong presence in Tamil Nadu at the grass-root level and the party is expanding. Giving the example of the past two General Elections, the BJP Tamil Nadu President said, "If you take 2019 as a barometer, or when Modi ji fought for the first time in 2014 for Prime Minister, Tamil Nadu BJP stood alone. We fought alone. The combined vote share percentage of our alliance was over 19 per cent. That was a historic number for us. People said Modi ji is coming. The wave was in Tamil Nadu since 2014."

(With ANI inputs)