Chennai, Sep 19 (IANS) The Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP is planning a major organisational revamp to improve the grassroots structure of the organisation in preparation for the 2026 assembly elections.
According to BJP sources, the party is planning to increase the number of district committees from the current 66 to 78. The state leadership believes that by increasing the number of district units, the party will have more workers and office bearers, which will increase its presence in the state. The BJP has already planned to induct 200 new members at the booth level, which will expand the BJP across the state and make it a powerful entity in Tamil Nadu politics.
The BJP’s membership drive, which began on September 2, is lagging behind in Tamil Nadu. A senior BJP leader told IANS that the local and mid-level workers are confused by the change in the party’s ideology after breaking ties with the AIADMK. This is one reason for the slow progress in the membership drive.
He further said that coalition politics is prevailing in the state and without proper allies the party will not be able to make an impact in the state politics. Many grassroots and middle level workers of the party are moving slowly in party activities after the party ended its decades-old relationship with the AIADMK.
The Tamil Nadu BJP has projected itself as an alternative to Dravidian parties and politics. However, this move has not yielded the desired results and has also led to resentment in many of the party’s traditional constituencies.
The BJP’s Tamil Nadu state unit is now being run by a coordination committee, with senior leader and former MLA H Raja as the convener. This is because the current president K Annamalai has gone on a three-month leave to the United Kingdom for higher education.
Tamil Nadu BJP is also planning to induct some influential people into the party keeping in mind the 2026 assembly elections. Party sources told IANS that offers have already been sent to some film stars, former cricketers, industrialists and other sportspersons to join the BJP.
The BJP is increasing the number of committees at the district and local levels to expand its reach in Tamil Nadu, but it faces a big challenge to break the Dravidian model and create its own identity in the state politics.
–IANS
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