'With Heavy Heart, I...': Another Key Tamil Nadu Leader Quits BJP Hours After Annamalai & Nagarajan's Resignations

Chennai: The Bharatiya Janata Party’s Tamil Nadu unit faced another setback on Friday after state secretary Sumathi Venkatesh announced her resignation from the party, hours after former state chief K Annamalai and state vice president Karu Nagarajan also left BJP.

In her resignation letter, Venkatesh said she had decided to step down from her responsibilities as State Secretary of the BJP in Tamil Nadu and end her association with the party. She said the decision had been taken “after careful thought” and was “not without sadness”.

Venkatesh thanked party leaders, office bearers and karyakartas at both the national and state levels for their guidance, support and encouragement during her tenure. Her exit came amid a string of resignations in the Tamil Nadu BJP following Annamalai’s decision to leave the party.

Annamalai, who served as Tamil Nadu BJP president from July 2021 to April 2025, resigned from the party citing differences in views on Tamil Nadu. In his resignation letter, he said he had joined the BJP six years ago with the aim of bringing positive change to the state and changing the way politics was conducted.

He said one of his main goals was to challenge the idea that politics was meant only for the elite or a select few. Annamalai thanked the BJP leadership for trusting him with major responsibilities despite his relatively young age and limited political experience when he entered the party.

The former state chief also said people in Tamil Nadu had grown tired of the political discourse that had dominated the state for decades and were looking for change. He claimed that national parties had often failed to speak the political language understood by the people of Tamil Nadu, adding that he had tried to change that perception during his time in the BJP.

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