Bharatiya Janata Party – Tamil Nadu

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Created by Mohit Raj
Last edited May 7, 2026


Bharatiya Janata Party – Tamil Nadu
PresidentNainar Nagenthran
General SecretaryRama Srinivasan
TreasurerS. R. Sekhar
Founder
Founded6 April 1980
(46 years ago) (1980-04-06)
HeadquartersKamalalayam,
19, Vaidyaraman Street,
T. Nagar, Chennai-600017, Tamil Nadu, India
Youth wingBharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, Tamil Nadu
Women's wingBJP Mahila Morcha, Tamil Nadu
Ideology
Colours  Saffron
AllianceNational Democratic Alliance
Seats in Lok Sabha
0 / 39
Seats in Rajya Sabha
0 / 18
Seats in Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
1 / 234
Election symbol
File:BJP election symbol.svg -783x768.png
Party flag
Website
BJP Tamil Nadu

The Bharatiya Janata Party – Tamil Nadu (BJP Tamil Nadu) , also known as the Tamil Nadu BJP, is the affiliate of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The party is based in Chennai and is led by chair Nainar Nagendran.

History[edit | edit source]

In 1980, K. Narayan Rao became the first state president of BJP Tamil Nadu unit. As per political observers, the 1982 Mandaikadu incident was a turning point, after which Hindu Munnani and later the BJP expanded the base from Kanyakumari District. This led to early electoral gains, including K. V. Balachandran’s 1984 win as an independent with its backing and the BJP’s later victory on its own in Padmanabhapuram Constituency. In Kanyakumari district, the electorate is later divided between Hindus and Christians, with the BJP drawing support largely from Hindus and the Congress backed by many Christians, leaving limited space for the Dravidian majors DMK and AIADMK.[8]

Electoral performance[edit | edit source]

Lok Sabha election[edit | edit source]

Election Year Lok Sabha Seats contested Seats won Overall votes (%) of votes (+/-) in seats Vote swing Outcome
Lok Sabha
1984 8th 1
0 / 39
 15,462 0.07% Steady Steady new Others
1989 9th 3
0 / 39
 76,511 0.29% Steady Increase 0.22 Government
1991 10th 15
0 / 39
 4,06,869 1.65% Steady Increase 1.36 Opposition
1996 11th 37
0 / 39
 7,95,797 2.93% Steady Increase 1.28 Opposition
1998 12th 5
3 / 39
 17,57,645 6.86% Increase 3 Increase 3.93 Government
1999 13th 6
4 / 39
 17,57,645 7.14% Increase 1 Increase 0.28 Government
2004 14th 6
0 / 39
 14,55,899 5.07% Decrease 4 Decrease 2.10 Opposition
2009 15th 18
0 / 39
 17,57,645 2.30% Steady Decrease 2.77 Opposition
2014 16th 9
1 / 39
 22,23,566 5.56% Increase 1 Increase 3.21 Government
2019 17th 5
0 / 39
 15,51,924 3.62% Decrease 1 Decrease 1.94 Government
2024 18th 23
0 / 39
 48,80,954 11.24% Steady Increase 7.58 Government

Legislative Assembly election[edit | edit source]

Year Seats contested Seats won +/- Voteshare (%) +/- (%) Vote share/Seats contested Outcome
1980 10
0 / 234
  – 0.07% New 0.007 None
1984 15
0 / 234
  – 0.25% Increase 0.18 0.016 None
1989 30
0 / 234
  – 0.35% Increase 0.1 0.011 None
1991 99
0 / 234
  – 1.70% Increase 1.35 0.017 None
1996 143
1 / 234
 Increase 1 1.81% Increase 0.11 0.012 None
2001 21
4 / 234
 Increase 3 3.19% Increase 1.38 0.151 None
2006 225
0 / 234
 Decrease 4 2.02% Decrease 1.17 0.008 None
2011 204
0 / 234
  – 2.22% Increase 0.2 0.010 None
2016 188
0 / 234
  – 2.84% Increase 0.62 0.015 None
2021 20
4 / 234
 Increase 4 2.62% Decrease 0.22 0.131 None
2026 33
1 / 234
 Decrease 3 2.97% Increase 0.35 0.090 None

Leadership[edit | edit source]

Elected members[edit | edit source]

Incumbent member(s) of Legislative Assembly[edit | edit source]

S.No. Constituency Name Remarks Win Margin in 2026
# Name
Nilgiris District
01. 108 Udagamandalam M. Bhojarajan 976

Prominent members[edit | edit source]

Vice presidents of the state unit[edit | edit source]

  • M. Chakravarthy
  • V. P. Duraisamy, Former Member of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly[9], Former Deputy Speaker (from DMK)
  • K. S. Narendiran
  • M. Muruganandam
  • M. N. Raja
  • A. R. Mahalakshmi
  • P. Kanagasabapathi
  • Puratchikavidhasan

General secretaries of the state unit[edit | edit source]

  • K. T. Raghavan
  • G. K. Selvakumar
  • R. Srinivasan
  • Karu. Nagarajan

List of presidents[edit | edit source]

S.No Name Tenure Elected year Ref.
1 K. Narayan Rao
(1929–2017) 		1980 – 1983 1980 -
2 K. N. Lakshmanan
(1930–2020) 		1984 – 1989 1984 [10]
3 V. Vijayaraghavalu
(unknown) 		1990 – 1993 1990 -
4 N. S. Chandra Bose
(1932–2010) 		1993 – 1995 1993 -
(2) K. N. Lakshmanan
(1930–2020) 		1996 – 2000 1996 -
5 S. P. Kirubanidhi
(1927–2017) 		6 May 2000 – 12 May 2003 2000 -
6
C. P. Radhakrishnan
(b. 1957) 		12 May 2003 – 22 September 2006 2003 [11]
7
La Ganesan
(1945–2025) 		22 September 2006 – 30 December 2009 2006 [12]
8
Pon Radhakrishnan
(b. 1952) 		30 December 2009 – 27 May 2014 2009 [13]
2012
9
Tamilisai Soundararajan
(b. 1961) 		16 August 2014 – 1 September 2019 2014 [14]
2016
10
L. Murugan
(b. 1977) 		11 March 2020 – 7 July 2021 2020 [15]
11
K. Annamalai
(b. 1984) 		8 July 2021 – 12 April 2025 2021 [16]
12
Nainar Nagendran
(b. 1960) 		12 April 2025 – Incumbent 2025

See also[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ "What you need to know about India's BJP". Al Jazeera. 23 May 2019. Archived from the original on 13 May 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  2. ↑ Jain, Praveen (7 January 2024). "Murli Manohar Joshi turns 90: Well-wishers flock to Raisina Road to celebrate life of BJP stalwart". ThePrint. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  3. ↑ "Bharat Ratna for Pranab, Nanaji Deshmukh and Bhupen Hazarika". Bihar Times. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  4. ↑ Sir, Sp (29 April 2021). "K R Malkani - The Sindhu World Sindhi Author: The Sindh Story: Sindhi Politician: Political Mysteries". The Sindhu World. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  5. ↑ कौन थे बीजेपी के इकलौते मुस्लिम फाउंडर सिकंदर बख्त? जानिए कैसे थामा पार्टी का साथ (in हिन्दी). 6 April 2024. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  6. ↑ Jain, Devaki (14 August 2021). "The Maharani who founded the BJP". The Citizen (India).
  7. ↑ "Rajput votes at stake in Rajasthan, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat legacy a new front in BJP, Cong battle". The Indian Express. 22 May 2023. Retrieved 18 January 2025.
  8. ↑ "At the end of Dravidian land, a lotus bud waits to bloom". thetimesofindia. 2 March 2022.
  9. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamil_Nadu_Legislative_Assembly
  10. ↑ "K. N. Lakshmanan BJP state president in Tamil Nadu". The Hindu. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  11. ↑ "TN BJP gets new president". economictimes. Retrieved 13 May 2003.
  12. ↑ "La Ganesan BJP state president in Tamil Nadu". The Hindu. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  13. ↑ "Pon Radhakrishnan appointed BJP state president in Tamil Nadu". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  14. ↑ "Tamilisai appointed BJP state president in Tamil Nadu". The Hindu. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  15. ↑ "L Murugan appointed BJP state president in Tamil Nadu". The Times Of India. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  16. ↑ "Annamalai appointed Tamil Nadu BJP State president". The Hindu. 8 July 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
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