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Who is K Annamalai?
Kuppusamy Annamalai is a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer.
He had a distinguished career as an IPS officer in Karnataka from 2011 batch, serving in Udupi, Chikmagalur, and Bengaluru. His work earned him the title 'Singham (Lion) of Karnataka Police'. In 2019, he decided to step away from his khaki uniform and focus on organic farming in his village in Karur district, Tamil Nadu.
Education
In 2007, he completed a degree in Bachelor of Engineering at PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. In 2010, he earned a PGDM in Business from the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow.
Career as IPS Officer
Annamalai completed his officer training at LBSNA Mussoorie, Uttarakhand, in September 2011. From December 2011 to September 2013, he served as an officer trainee at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy. In September 2013, he was appointed as the assistant superintendent of police of Karkala, Karnataka and held this position until December 2014. He was then appointed as the superintendent of police of Udupi in January 2015 and remained in this role until August 2016. He was then transferred to Chikmagalur, Karnataka, where he was appointed as the superintendent of police. He served in the Chikmagalur district of Karnataka until October 2018. Subsequently, from October 2018 to September 2019, he served as the deputy commissioner of police of South Bangalore.
Controversies
In 2019, several political leaders of DMK started blaming Annamalai soon after he announced joining BJP. They blamed him for taking the benefits of the political powers of the BJP government during his term as an IPS officer. Soon, he replied to these condemns through one of his social media accounts in which he stated that he was appointed as an IPS officer when the country was led by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.
Political journey
Relocated to his village in Karur district of Tamil Nadu to take up organic farming after his resignation, Annamalai was groomed to be the CM candidate of Tamil superstar Rajinikanth’s party, which couldn't. Subsequently, on August 25, 2020, he joined BJP. He was made state unit chief within 10 months of joining the party.
In the following year, he contested the Tamil Nadu state assembly election from the Aravakurichi constituency of Karur district backed by the Bharatiya Janata Party and was defeated by NR Elango, a leader of DMK.
As the youngest president of the Tamil Nadu unit, the 39-year-old leader has taken the BJP flag and symbol to all 234 assembly constituencies in the state through his ‘En Mann, En Makkal’ yatra.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Annamalai contested from the Coimbatore constituency that went to polling in Phase 1 on April 19. However, DMK candidate Ganapathy Rajkumar defeated Annamalai by over 17,800 votes. Annamalai, who secured 447,608 votes, conceded defeat to Rajkumar, who polled 565,428 votes. The BJP state chief thanked voters, congratulated the rival candidate, and said the party will "double the efforts to win your love".