K Annamalai

NEW DELHI: After exiting BJP and launching his new movement ‘We the Leaders’, K Annamalai has taken another step forward, announcing plans to transform it into a political party by next month or July.The Tamil Nadu leader said the campaign is on the “right track” to become a political party.Pointing out that around 18 lakh people have already joined the organisation “without any expectations,” Annamalai said during a social media interaction that membership is growing both online and through direct contact with people on the ground.He said members have joined with the belief that the movement can bring major change. “after we start this movement as a political outfit, its activities will take on a different nature from this July and people are going to see it.”Claiming that the movement “will not fail, will not lie, and will not lead the people to the wrong path”, Annamalai said, “for us, we are equal to all religions and there is no second thought about that”.“Our aim in the coming months is that this membership drive will keep going”, he said. “As we move forward, our objective is to transform our organisation into a people’s movement to talk about the various issues in the state”.Raising concerns over several issues, especially the growing drug menace among youngsters in Tamil Nadu, Annamalai said the matter would be taken up as a mass movement at the grassroots level.He also said many technocrats and successful professionals are unsure how to enter politics. “Between 40 and 50 years of age, Tamil people, who have achieved a lot, across the globe including in US and London do not know how to enter politics here”.Annamalai further said that once the organisation becomes a political party, it will introduce a “term limit” for politicians. “Discarding the very old and bringing in new, it must keep happening”, he said.The movement has attracted major attention since Annamalai stepped away from all his responsibilities and posts in the BJP following the party’s poor performance in the recent assembly elections. Since then, he has positioned “We the Leaders” as a platform aimed at bringing fresh leadership and new ideas into Tamil Nadu politics.