Will Annamalai's Gamble Work?

On Friday, the first phase of elections for the Lok Sabha got underway for 102 Parliamentary seats across 21 States including all 39 seats in Tamil Nadu.

Naturally, all eyes are on Coimbatore from where the poster boy of Tamil Nadu BJP, Annamalai is contesting.

BJP won this seat twice in the past in 1998 and 1999. It has a vote share of roughly around 25-30 percent in Coimbatore.

What’s different this time though is that BJP is not in alliance with AIADMK.

Apparently, it was Annamalai who pressurized the national Party leadership to sever the alliance with AIADMK and fight the battle alone.

This is by no means, a small gamble because the AIADMK despite the death of Jayalalitha has a strong cadre.

In fact, an alliance with AIADMK would have confirmed a victory for Annamalai in Coimbatore. Now, he has to bank on his own charisma.

The BJP is contesting in 23 seats in Tamil Nadu. If Annamalai wins, his prestige would be enhanced.

However, if he were to lose but the BJP still manages to increase its vote share, the job would have been done.

Will Annamalai’s gamble of severing ties with the AIADMK work out to his advantage or would it turn out to be something, he and the Party will regret in future?