Former IPS officer K. Annamalai, who joined the BJP on Tuesday, was appointed the vice-president of the party’s State unit on Sunday. BJP’s Tamil Nadu president L. Murugan issued an official announcement in this regard.
Recently, the party appointed former Deputy Speaker V.P. Duraisamy, who switched over from the DMK, as one of its vice-presidents. Former AIADMK Minister Nainar Nagendran also enjoys the status as the vice-president of the party.
Asked whether rewarding new entrants with State-level posts would not affect the sentiments of those who had been doing party work for years, K.T. Raghavan, the State general secretary of the party, said all the senior leaders held some position or the other as State-level office bearers.
“We have 40 State-level office-bearers. We have implemented 33% reservation for women in the party posts and regular reservation for the SC/ST candidates. When a prominent politician or a well-known person joins our party, we have to honour them,” Mr. Raghavan contended.
In the past, Rangarajan Kumaramangalam, a Congress leader, was fielded as a BJP candidate in Tiruchi, after he joined the party. Subsequently, he was inducted into the Cabinet led by Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee.
Another leader who was rewarded in a similar manner was Su. Thirunavukkarasar. He was sent to the Rajya Sabha and later made a Union Minister of State. He later joined the Congress and is a MP now.
Mr. Raghavan said the experience of political leaders should be taken into account even though they may have roots in some other political party. “They know the ideology of the party. They have spent a lot of years in politics,” he said when asked whether they would be comfortable with the BJP and its ideology.
