BENGALURU: Former IPS officer K Annamalai, who was the Bengaluru South deputy police commissioner before announcing a surprise exit from the service last year, joined BJP’s Tamil Nadu unit on Tuesday.
His plunge into politics was formalised at the BJP headquarters in Delhi in the presence of party general secretary P Muralidhar Rao and Tamil Nadu BJP president L Murugan. Later, he met national BJP president JP Nadda.
Annamalai, from Tamil Nadu, became an IPS officer in 2011. He was a popular cop in Karnataka, serving various stints, including the superintendent of police in Udupi and Chikkamagaluru districts. Many called him Singham after the famous movie character, and there were protests when he was transferred from the two districts. Annamalai is also well-liked in his home state.
In May last year, he said he was quitting as a police officer to pursue “public service”. There was speculation that he would join politics, but he said at the time that he didn’t have lofty ambitions.
Annamalai has been quite vocal about his nationalist sentiments and admiration for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As the Chikkamagaluru SP, he had reportedly developed contacts with local politicians, including legislator CT Ravi, who is now the Karnataka tourism minister. Ravi was in charge of Tamil Nadu during the 2016 assembly and 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
“Annamalai is popular in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. He will be associated with the party unit in Tamil Nadu, his home state, and hopefully, he will work to bring the nationalist spirit there,” Ravi said.
BJP functionaries said the party was viewing Annamalai as a huge prospect to build a base in Tamil Nadu. The party held discussions with him for six months before onboarding him. “He chose the belt of Coimbatore as the place where he can emerge as a public figure in his life without uniform. He might even contest from the constituency in the 2021 assembly polls,” said a BJP functionary.
Welcoming him into the party, Karnataka BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel tweeted: “BJP is a party consisting of nationalists and genuine patriots. Every citizen who has the goal of serving the nation will support BJP.”
Annamalai said he was inspired by Modi. “The prime minister’s vision for India and his dynamic leadership have always attracted me. The future of the country is bright with the right leaders at the helm of affairs in Delhi. I am really motivated to see our country reach its rightful destiny under Modi,” he said. “I believe the best is yet to come for our country and I wish to play a small part in making that happen. As an IPS officer, I had the pride to serve the people of Karnataka and as a politician, I now have the opportunity to serve my birth state of Tamil Nadu and the nation.”
His plunge into politics was formalised at the BJP headquarters in Delhi in the presence of party general secretary P Muralidhar Rao and Tamil Nadu BJP president L Murugan. Later, he met national BJP president JP Nadda.
Annamalai, from Tamil Nadu, became an IPS officer in 2011. He was a popular cop in Karnataka, serving various stints, including the superintendent of police in Udupi and Chikkamagaluru districts. Many called him Singham after the famous movie character, and there were protests when he was transferred from the two districts. Annamalai is also well-liked in his home state.
In May last year, he said he was quitting as a police officer to pursue “public service”. There was speculation that he would join politics, but he said at the time that he didn’t have lofty ambitions.
Annamalai has been quite vocal about his nationalist sentiments and admiration for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As the Chikkamagaluru SP, he had reportedly developed contacts with local politicians, including legislator CT Ravi, who is now the Karnataka tourism minister. Ravi was in charge of Tamil Nadu during the 2016 assembly and 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
“Annamalai is popular in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. He will be associated with the party unit in Tamil Nadu, his home state, and hopefully, he will work to bring the nationalist spirit there,” Ravi said.
BJP functionaries said the party was viewing Annamalai as a huge prospect to build a base in Tamil Nadu. The party held discussions with him for six months before onboarding him. “He chose the belt of Coimbatore as the place where he can emerge as a public figure in his life without uniform. He might even contest from the constituency in the 2021 assembly polls,” said a BJP functionary.
Welcoming him into the party, Karnataka BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel tweeted: “BJP is a party consisting of nationalists and genuine patriots. Every citizen who has the goal of serving the nation will support BJP.”
Annamalai said he was inspired by Modi. “The prime minister’s vision for India and his dynamic leadership have always attracted me. The future of the country is bright with the right leaders at the helm of affairs in Delhi. I am really motivated to see our country reach its rightful destiny under Modi,” he said. “I believe the best is yet to come for our country and I wish to play a small part in making that happen. As an IPS officer, I had the pride to serve the people of Karnataka and as a politician, I now have the opportunity to serve my birth state of Tamil Nadu and the nation.”
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