Annamalai Kuppusamy

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Annāmalai Kuppusāmy
அண்ணாமலை குப்புசாமி
8th State President of Bharatiya Janata Party, Tamil Nadu
Assumed office
15 July 2021
Preceded byL. Murugan
Vice President of Bharatiya Janata Party, Tamil Nadu
In office
29 August 2020 – 14 July 2021
Personal details
Born (1984-06-04) 4 June 1984 (age 39)
Karur, Tamil Nadu, India
CitizenshipIndian
NationalityIndian
Political partyBharatiya Janata Party
Spouse(s)Akila SwamiNathan
Children2
Parents
  • Kuppusāmy (father)
  • Parameshwari (mother)
EducationBachelor of Engineering,
Master of Business Administration
Alma materPSG College of Technology
Indian Institute of Management Lucknow
Occupation
  • Former IPS officer
  • Politician
  • Agriculturist

Annamalai Kuppusamy (Tamil: அண்ணாமலை குப்புசாமி) is an Indian politician, former IPS officer and state president of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Tamil Nadu. He was appointed as the president of Tamil Nadu BJP by national president Jagath Prakash Natta on 8 July 2021.[1][2] He officially joined Bharatiya Janata Party on 25 August 2020.[3]

Early life and education[edit]

He was born on 4 June 1984 in an agricultural family at Thottampatty village near ChinnaTharapuram, Karur. He belongs to the Kongu Vellala Gounder community. His parents are Kuppusamy Gounder and Parameswari. He was married to Akila Swaminathan. He has two children.[4][5]

He completed his schooling in Karur and Namakkal districts and then moved on to obtain graduation in Mechanical Engineering from PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore.[6] Following that, Annamalai completed his Master of Business Administration from the Indian Institute of Management Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. then he was the 2011 batch topper in UPSC Civil Services Examination. He is fluent in Tamil, Kannada, English, and Hindi[7]

Social activist[edit]

Annamalai Kuppusamy is the founder of We the Leaders Foundation (WTLF) which is a non-profit organization promoting organic agriculture, modern agriculture tech, and other training activity. He founded IAS coaching institutions for poor and deserving candidates in Karur district and Coimbatore district. He is also interested in Organic farming.[8]

Police career[edit]

Annamalai is known for his work as part of the police force and has also been called as "Karnataka Singham".[9] He was a 2011 batch IPS officer and he started his police career as the Assistant Superintendent of Police, Karkala sub-division in Udupi district of Karnataka in September 2013 where he was later promoted on 1 January 2015 as a Superintendent of Police in the same location and served there as an SP till August 2016. He was then transferred to Chikkamagaluru district of Karnataka and continued as an SP till October 2018. He got promoted as a Deputy Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru south in 2018.[10] He has got lots of awards and recognitions from Chief ministers and Governers during his career.

Assistant Superintendent of police in Karkala[edit]

Annamalai joined the police service in 2011, and his first posting took him to Karkala in Karnataka as Assistant Superintendent of police. Here, he spearheaded an awareness campaign against drug abuse and the sale of tobacco, shutting down several illegal liquor shops. He held seminars in colleges against drug addiction and set up complaint boxes where students could post anonymous tips about illegal activities.[citation needed]

Superintendent of police in Udupi[edit]

Between January 2015 and August 2016, he was posted as Superintendent of police in Udupi districtt. It was during this stint that he investigated his first murder case, involving a 17-year-old student who was also raped by her assailants. Speaking to Press, Annamalai said the teenager’s grief-stricken mother had looked him right in the eyes and asked if he could bring back her daughter. Later, Annamalai instituted a Rs 10,000 scholarship in the victim’s name, given annually to the girl who tops Class 10 in the Byndoor taluka.[11]

While still in Udupi, Annamalai once walked over to a provision store and asked for cigarettes, gutka and bidis. When the shopkeeper gave him the stuff, Annamalai immediately slapped a Rs 30,000 fine on him for selling the products despite their sales being banned at general stores. "Pay this amount today or you will end up paying a lakh tomorrow,"  he warned him.[12]

When he was offered a trasfer from Udupi to Chikmangalur, people took to streets and tried to stop him by crying.

Studied Islam[edit]

It was during his tenure in Udupi — located near Bhatkal in the neighbouring district of Uttara Kannada — that Annamalai developed a deep interest in Islam, he said. Bhatkal is a hotbed of Islamist radicalisation and the birthplace of the Indian Mujahideen.[13] Annamalai decided to study religion to "understand what led to the misinterpretation of religious texts and caused widespread radicalisation". "I studied the Quran and Hadith with the help of the religious scholars. I tried to understand the philosophy. It helped me understand the psyche behind terror organisations like the Indian Mujahideen, SIMI and ISIS that had spread its tentacles around the Bhatkal-Kundapura region," he said.[14]

Organised Innovative steps[edit]

Annamalai, during his tenure brought reforms like compulsory weekly-offs for police and free leave and flexible shift system. He is known for the innovative system of giving transfer to officers who reduce weight. He brough library inside police station in Urban Bangalore. [15]

Deputy Commissioner of police in Bangalore South[edit]

The next transfer took him to Chikmagalur until October 2018. In 2017, the area, rife with communal tensions, witnessed riots after a group of miscreants vandalised the Dattatreya Bababudan Swamy Dargah. As the superintendent of police, Annamalai organised several peace meetings to defuse tensions.[16]

Resignment[edit]

He was serving as the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru South when he decided to quit in 2019. In his resignation letter, Annamalai said it was not a sudden decision but a well-thought-out one rooted in a 2018 trip to Kailash Mansarovar. The death of a respected senior helped the realisation take a deeper hold. "My trip to Kailash Mansarovar made me introspect. The death of IPS officer Madhukar Shetty, 47, in December 2018, made me look back at my life," he had told Press at the time.[17]

Political career[edit]

After his resignation, Annamalai has been influenced by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Annamalai also met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah and revealed how impressed he was with the RSS and wanted to do something different in life.[18][19][20] He is also a fan of Narendra Modi.[21][22][23] On 25 August 2020, a year after quitting the police force, he officially joined Bharatiya Janata Party in the presence of BJP national general secretary P. Muralidhar Rao and BJP president of Tamil Nadu L. Murugan.[24][25]

Bringing BJP nationalist spirit to Tamil Nadu[edit]

Annamalai's induction into the BJP comes about a year before the state heads for assembly elections in the summer of 2021 — the first election since the death of political stalwarts Jayalalithaa of the AIADMK and M. Karunanidhi of the DMK.[26][27]

The BJP, a fringe player in Tamil Nadu, is in alliance with the ruling AIADMK in the state. Asked if he will be the party’s CM candidate, or will handle another similar responsibility within the party, Annamalai said he has joined the BJP as "a loyal foot-soldier" and will work to "bring the party’s nationalist spirit to Tamil Nadu". Talking to reporters in Delhi after his induction Tuesday, he invoked the ancient Tamil text Thirukkural to describe Modi as a true leader. "I come from a land which is historic and, in this beautiful Thirukkural, it talks about the qualities a king and an administrator should have. It talks about fearlessness, it talks about courage, it talks about (having a) giving spirit, it talks about knowledge. I see all four of these in our Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji and all the eminent people of the BJP," he said.[28]

"I have decided that I should strengthen the movement that the party stands for to bring that nationalist spirit to the state of Tamil Nadu," he added. "I will try my best as a loyal soldier of the party to dedicate my time and energy to further this cause across Tamil Nadu and India It is a privilege to join the BJP."[29][30]

Elections[edit]

Annamalai contested in Aravakurichi Constituency in the 2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Election in spite of being a first-time contestant, and the constituency is considered a bastion of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party, he polled 38.71% votes and came second largely because of his no-nonsense image as a police officer, and his reaching out to the minority voters of the rural constituency during his campaigns. [31][32][33] After L. Muruagan was made union minister, Annamalai was made president of Tamil Nadu unit of Bharatiya Janata Party.[34]

Tamil Nadu BJP president[edit]

In July 2023, he launched the En Mann En Makkal Campaign which is flagged off by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.[35]

Overseas engagements[edit]

Annamalai made a couple of visits to Sri Lanka[36] in April 2022 and in February 2023.[37] During a four day visit in May 2022 he participated in the May Day celebrations of the Ceylon Workers Congress[38] and met with Sri Lankan lawmakers, Sri Lankan ethnic Tamil Leaders, representatives of NGOs and political leaders.[39][40][41] Reinstating the official stance of India, he insisted upon the implementation of the Thirteenth Amendment[42] and for the recovery of Katchatheevu.[43][44] He voiced against the genocide against the Sri Lankan Tamils and also outlined the challenges faced by the Malayaha Tamils and their forced migrations.[45]

In June 2023 he took part in the Young Leaders Forum, UK-India Week 2023, organized by the India Global Forum at Nehru Centre, London for promoting India–UK bilateral ties.[46][47][48][49] He also led a four member delegation[50] which participated in the Transnational ‘BRICS political parties plus dialogue’ 2023[51] at Johannesburg, South Africa which was attended by over 50 political parties from BRICS and other nations.[52]

Awards & Certifications[edit]

  1. Recipient of vice-president of India Award for topping the Directors assessment for the training period 2011–2012 at Sardar Vallabhai Patel National Police Academy, Hyderabad.[53]
  2. Winner of Esprit-de-Corps award at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, instituted by the 1968 batch of IAS Officers and Sangay Lhaden Shenga award instituted by the 1992 batch of IAS officers for showing “Exemplary Leadership Qualities” during the combined training of All India Service Officers during the year 2010–11.[53]
  3. SP Mukherjee award for Politics in 2022[54]

Publications[edit]

  • Stepping Beyond Khaki – Revelations Of A Real- Life Singham[55]

See also[edit]

  • Vanathi Srinivasan
  • L. Murugan

References[edit]

  1. Moneycontrol News (30 May 2019). "Bengaluru's 'Singham' IPS officer quits police force after senior's death". Moneycontrol. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  2. "IPS officer Annamalai quits post, likely to join Tamil Nadu BJP - The New Indian Express". www.newindianexpress.com. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  3. "'I am a natural fit in the BJP': Former IPS officer K Annamalai set to join party". 25 August 2020.
  4. Prajwal Bhat (28 May 2019). "B'luru DCP 'Singam' Annamalai quits, says IPS officer's death made him 're-examine' life". The NEWS Minute. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  5. Times Now Digital (28 May 2019). "Ex-IPS officer K Annamalai announces his entry to politics, to contest next election from Tamil Nadu". TIMESNOWNEWS.COM. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  6. "Annamalai Kuppusamy - PSG Tech Alumni Association". alumni.psgtech.ac.in. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  7. "'Singham' Annamalai — the IPS officer, engineer & MBA who studied Islam to fight terror". 26 August 2020.
  8. "Who is IPS Annamalai Kuppuswamy, once hailed as Singham of Udupi?". 25 August 2020.
  9. Moneycontrol News (30 May 2019). "Bengaluru's 'Singham' IPS officer quits police force after senior's death". Moneycontrol. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  10. Moneycontrol News (31 May 2019). "Bengaluru's 'Singham' IPS officer quits police force after senior's death". Moneycontrol. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  11. Livemint (8 July 2021). "Meet K Annamalai, the youngest Tamil Nadu BJP president ever". mint. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  12. Ramdev, Darshana (27 April 2019). "Urban Legend: Udupi's Singham, Annamalai, the philosopher-cop". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  13. "Annamalai Kuppusamy: Age, Biography, Education, Wife, Caste, Net Worth & More - Oneindia". www.oneindia.com. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  14. "'Singham' Annamalai — the IPS officer, engineer & MBA who studied Islam to fight terror". ThePrint. 26 August 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  15. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njrf1fuH2lo
  16. "Why Annamalai was chosen over senior leaders to lead BJP in Tamil Nadu". The News Minute. 16 July 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  17. ChennaiJuly 8, Pramod Madhav; July 8, 2021UPDATED; Ist, 2021 20:54. "BJP appoints former IPS officer K Annamalai as Tamil Nadu unit chief". India Today. Retrieved 17 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  18. "'Karnataka's Singham' Annamalai to join RSS and start 'shakha' in Coimbatore?". Asianet News Network Pvt Ltd. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  19. "Political plunge? No plans, says Annamalai". Deccan Herald. 22 May 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
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  21. Prakash Upadhyaya (18 May 2020). "Ex-IPS officer K Annamalai announces his entry to politics, to contest next election from Tamil Nadu". International Business Times. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
  22. "Ex-Super cop Annamalai hints at joining politics : 'I am a big fan of Modi'│Daijiworld Television - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  23. "Former super cop Annamalai hints at joining politics - 'I am a big fan of Modi'". www.daijiworld.com. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  24. [[1]]
  25. "Annamalai Kuppusamy: Age, Biography, Education, Wife, Caste, Net Worth & More - Oneindia".
  26. "Former cop K Annamalai joins BJP, promises to bring 'nationalist spirit to Tamil Nadu'". The News Minute. 25 August 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  27. Aug 25, Shanmughasundaram J. / TNN / Updated; 2020; Ist, 15:16. "Annamalai IPS: Former Karnataka IPS officer K Annamalai joins BJP, says he will work to bring national spirit to Tamil Nadu | Chennai News - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 18 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  28. "Ex-IPS officer Annamalai joins BJP, says will bring 'nationalistic spirit' to Tamil Nadu". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  29. "DMK thrives on religious politics, not BJP: K Annamalai".
  30. "'Aim is to "Bringing Nationalist spirit to TamilNadu - says BJP chief Annamalai - The Federal". The Federal. 25 August 2021.
  31. "I'm son of soil, know problems first-hand: Ex-IPS officer Annamalai campaigns in Aravakurichi".
  32. "Tamil Nadu polls: BJP's Annamalai giving DMK a run for its money".
  33. "Aravakurichi constituency gears up for mega duel".
  34. Venugopal, Vasudha. "Ahead of Tamil Nadu polls, BJP ropes in former IPS officer Annamalai Kuppusamy". The Economic Times.
  35. "Amit Shah launches Annamalai's padyatra, key NDA allies in Tamil Nadu missing from event". The Indian Express. 29 July 2023. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  36. "Annamalai in Sri Lanka What will be achieved?". Afternoonnews. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  37. "MoS L Murugan, BJP leader Annamalai arrives at Chennai airport from Sri Lanka". aninews.in. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  38. "BJP State president Annamalai to meet Tamil leaders during Sri Lanka trip". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  39. "Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai departs for Sri Lanka, to meet Tamil leaders and NGOs". TimesNow. 30 April 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  40. "BJP chief K Annamalai to visit Sri Lanka amid crisis, to meet Tamil leaders". www.newsbharati.com. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  41. "Annamalai's SL trip to improve BJP's fortune in TN". opinionexpress.in. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  42. "BJP Embraces Tamil Diaspora". Colombo Telegraph. 27 June 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  43. Weerasooriya, Sahan (16 August 2022). "TN BJP will continue to press for retrieval of Katchatheevu: Annamalai". Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  44. mohan, sulochana ramiah (24 February 2023). "GROWING INFLUENCE OF BJP'S ANNAMALAI IN SRI LANKA'S NORTH". Ceylon Today. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  45. "BJP Embraces Tamil Diaspora". Colombo Telegraph. 27 June 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2023.
  46. "K Annamalai, Arman Malik take part in Young Leaders Forum in London". business-standard.com. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  47. "UK-India Week kick-starts in London with Young Leaders Forum". The Week. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  48. Tasleem, Rafia (25 June 2023). "Young Leaders from India and UK Converge in London for UK-India Week 2023". BNN Breaking. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  49. Jun 25, PTILast Updated (25 June 2023). "UK-India Week kick-starts in London with Young Leaders Forum". The Economic Times. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  50. Bureau, The Hindu (14 July 2023). "T.N. BJP president Annamalai to attend BRICS political parties' meeting in South Africa". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  51. "BRICS Political Parties Dialogue – ANC". Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  52. "BJP sends 4-member delegation headed by Annamalai to South Africa". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  53. 53.0 53.1 "Annamalai Kuppusamy - User Profile". AGLN - Aspen Global Leadership Network. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  54. Correspondent, Special (5 August 2022). "Year-long celebration of Independence anniversary is India's opportunity to course correct historiography". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  55. Annamalai, K. (18 January 2021). Stepping Beyond Khaki: Revelations of a Real-Life Singham. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-93-89449-87-7.