Tamil Nadu BJP MLA Nainar Nagendran is set to replace K Annamalai as President of the party's state unit. Mr Nagendran - currently the Vice President - was the only nominee to file papers.
Significantly, Mr Nagendra's nomination was proposed by Mr Annamalai and three other senior leaders, including Union Minister L Murugan and ex-Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan.
A three-time MLA from Tirunelveli, he will be tasked with jumpstarting the party's fortunes in next year's Assembly election, in a state that has historically always rejected the BJP.
Shortly after the news broke, Union Home Minister Amit Shah posted on X, confirming the Tamil Nadu BJP office had received just the one nomination - i.e., from Mr Nagendran.
Mr Shah also said the outgoing chief, K Annamalai - under whose direction the party was thumped in the last Assembly election and the last Lok Sabha poll, and whose irritable relationship with the AIADMK broke that alliance - made "commendable accomplishments".
"Whether it is carrying forward policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the people, or the programs of the party from village to village, Annamalai's contribution has been unprecedented, and the BJP will leverage his organisational skills in the party's national framework."
Nainar Nagendran, the incoming Tamil Nadu BJP chief, won the Tirunelveli Assembly seat in 2001 and 2011. Those wins were on an AIADMK ticket.
He lost the 2006 and 2016 elections - which too was on AIADMK tickets - to the DMK's N Malai Raja and ALS Lakshmanan. He then won the 2021 election by beating the latter.
Mr Nagendran's elevation, many also believe, could be the BJP's way of offering an olive branch to the AIADMK, a former ally that walked out over K Annamalai's sharp jabs at past leaders of the Tamil party, including icons like MG Ramachandran.
In fact, last week BJP sources said AIADMK chief Edapaddi K Palaniswami has made Mr Annamalai's removal a precondition for allying with the party again ahead of the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections next year.
While the BJP hasn't made significant electoral gains in Tamil Nadu since Mr Annamalai was appointed the chief of the state unit in 2021, the 40-year-old is credited with giving it much more visibility, which is very important in a state that has proven to be nearly impenetrable for the party.
BJP sources said Mr Annamalai will be told his removal will not be a punishment but part of an approach to expand the footprint of the party in the state, and that a bigger role for him in the party or the government at the Centre has not been ruled out.
