Former Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai has come under fire from the saffron party over his support to the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and his criticism
of the police crackdown on the protests. BJP spokesperson Narayanan Thirupathy accused Annamalai of reversing his stand on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls as soon as he left the party. In a post on X, Thirupathy said that while in the BJP, Annamalai fully backed the exercise, and that he reviewed party-level SIR work, repeatedly claiming that Tamil Nadu had a large number of fake voters who needed to be removed, and attacked the DMK for opposing the clean-up. Thirupathy recalled that in a public debate with Congress MP Shashi Tharoor in May 2026, Annamalai even defended the process as fair and necessary. He said Annamalai argued that the Congress had carried out a similar revision earlier and accused the Opposition of double standards. According to Thirupathy, Annamalai had even said he oversaw the BJP’s SIR effort across several states. Since quitting the party, Thirupathy said, Annamalai has switched sides. He now backs the questions raised by the CJP and others against the SIR, says it is for the government to answer, and maintains that Rahul Gandhi has “every right” to question the process. Thirupathy also targeted Annamalai’s criticism of the Delhi Police, pointing to his background as an IPS officer. He argued that Annamalai, who knows how law and order works, should understand that police must act when a protest crosses the line, whether by blocking roads, creating chaos or continuing after being asked to disperse. Yet Annamalai publicly criticised the handling of the CJP leaders, questioned their arrests, spoke of their difficulty in getting bail, and suggested that keeping them in custody would only make them more popular. Thirupathy said this sits uncomfortably with the training and responsibility Annamalai once carried, adding that it is easy to comment on police action from the outside. Thirupathy said the CJP and the Congress have their own reasons for attacking the SIR, and that Annamalai must explain why he now gives weight to their questions when his earlier position was so different. Consistency matters, he said, especially from someone who has been both a police officer and a senior political leader, and Annamalai should review his stand. Annamalai had criticised the Delhi Police over its action against CJP members, calling it a "real disservice". He said the government should address the CJP's concerns. "Delhi Police is doing a real disservice," Annamalai, founder of the "We The Leaders" movement, told reporters on Tuesday. While saying that he did not agree with all of CJP's protest methods, Annamalai said he supported the questions raised by the organisation. He also criticised the arrests of its members, warning that putting its leaders behind bars could make them more popular.
