Former Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai on Friday announced the start of a new political movement that he claimed would usher in the era of “common man politics” over “cult politics”. He made the announcement moments after he tendered his resignation from the saffron party.Sharing a video message, he said he would start his Annamalai Makkal Iyakkam (AMI) movement that would eventually turn into a political party and expressed his wish to contest the next Tamil Nadu elections in 2031. “We will start a political movement. We will contest in the next election, for which we need to be ready,” Annamalai, popularly known as ‘Singham’ for his tough policing during his days as an IPS officer, said in the video message.Annamalai gave viewers a glimpse of the ideals that his new outfit would be based on. “Politics does not belong to a family. We will break the concept of permanent leaders, MPs and MLAs. We need to come out of cult politics and bring common man politics,” he said.Annamalai, an IPS officer who served in Karnataka, quit the service in 2019 to run an organisation called ‘We The Leaders Foundation’. Most of the volunteers of his new movement will likely be from this outfit. He joined the BJP in 2020 and, within a year, was made the state president.Annamalai said there was “a great conflict on whether I am an Indian or a Tamilian” and revealed that he had informed the party of his decision earlier. “I told the party on  December 4, 2025, that I am going to resign. The party asked me to finish the elections and then leave,” he said. He added that he joined the BJP “for a positive change” and said the time had come to build a new political platform.“We will encourage all segments of society to participate in the political movement. Furthermore, more technocrats will be encouraged to join the party,” said Annamalai. His aggressive campaigns against the former MK Stalin-led Tamil Nadu Government and his padyatra had significantly raised the BJP’s visibility in the southern state. It was a crucial period as the BJP has historically struggled to gain a foothold in Tamil Nadu.Annamalai also did not back down from expressing his displeasure in his video message. “I wanted the BJP to contest alone in the (Tamil Nadu) elections. Had spoken to JP Nadda about contesting alone in local bodies and other elections,” he said.Annamalai underlined that despite being in the BJP for the past six years, he had not sacrificed his “Tamil identity”. The former BJP chief belongs to the Gounder community and spoke in detail about the next phase of his public life and political journey. He underscored the need for the younger generation to join politics and urged newcomers to register on wetheleader.org.”We are not a competition for anyone. I urge those who want to come along to have patience. At the right time, it will be converted into a political party,” Annamalai added.