Can Tirunelveli be BJP’s second Kanniyakumari? It depends on this man

WITH ITS mix of prominent castes such as OBC Nadars and Thevars (including Maravars), a substantial presence of SCs/STs, and its large Muslim population, the Tirunelveli Lok Sabha constituency is a testing groundfor the cross-caste consolidation the BJP is building to expand its footprint in Tamil Nadu. What is helping this along in Tirunelveli is the BJP’s choice of candidate, Nainar Nagendran, a popular leader who commands a vote base running across caste and party loyalties.

Nagendran says the BJP’s brief to him is to make Tirunelveli another Kanniyakumari, among the first Lok Sabha seats to be won in Tamil Nadu by the party and considered one of its strongest constituencies.

While originally from Nagercoil, three-time MLA and hotelier Nagendran has been a significant figure in Tirunelveli now for over two decades. A Maravar Thevar, he had a swift rise in the AIADMK after joining it in the late 1980s; the AIADMK top echelon had many Thevars, including J Jayalalithaa’s confidante V K Sasikala, at the time.

After he won his first Assembly election from the Tirunelveli Assembly seat in 2001, Nagendran was made a minister by Jayalalithaa, and given portfolios such as Electricity, Industries and Transport. Following Jayalalithaa’s death in 2016, Nagendran shifted to the BJP, claiming “lack of direction” in the AIADMK.

In the 2021 Assembly elections, he was re-elected from Tirunelveli on a BJP ticket, in an alliance with the AIADMK. One of the four BJP candidates elected to the House, he was appointed the party legislative party leader.

Amidst the rise of K Annamalai in the Tamil Nadu BJP, including his appointment as the state party chief, Nagendran has held his own. Unlike the brash IPS officer-turned-politician, who doesn’t