BJP leader Annamalai’s name not listed to receive PM at Coimbatore airport

Absence of K. Annamalai, former Tamil Nadu president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), to receive Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Coimbatore International Airport on Sunday (March 29, 2026) triggered reports that Mr. Annamalai had kept away though he was in Coimbatore, as he was unhappy with the seats allotted to the BJP by the AIADMK in the State for the Assembly elections.

Coimbatore south MLA Vanathi Srinivasan, BJP State president Nainar Nagenthran, Union Minister L. Murugan, and AIADMK leader S.P. Velumani were among those who received the Prime Minister.

When asked, Ms. Srinivasan told reporters that she had asked the other leaders when Mr. Annamalai would come to the airport and they had told her that though his name was given in the list, he did not come. “I will find out why he did not come,” she said.

However, the approved list with the names of 19 leaders to receive the Mr. Modi, a copy of which The Hindu has, did not have the name of Mr. Annamalai.

Ms. Srinivasan also told reporters that the NDA will win all the 10 seats in Coimbatore district. By nominating a person against whom there were corruption charges as a candidate for Coimbatore south, the DMK has insulted the people of Coimbatore. This also showed that the DMK does not believe in its leaders in Coimbatore.

“Our campaign will focus on the corruption of the DMK,” she said. Union Minister Piyush Goyal will hold a State-level meeting on the BJP candidates for the elections in the State and it will be announced by the party from Delhi. The BJP was a disciplined party that knows when to give what responsibility to whom, she added.