Chennai: The BJP appointed Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan as the BJP's Incharge and Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai as the Co-Incharge for the upcoming Karnataka Assembly Elections 2023.
In a press release, Arun Singh, National General Secretary of BJP said, “BJP National President Hon'ble Shri Jagat Prakash Nadda has appointed Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Education, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Minister, Government of India Incharge and Shri K. Annamalai, State President, Tamilnadu, BJP Co-Incharge for the forthcoming Assembly Elections of Karnataka State.”
This appointment comes into immediate effect, he said.
Dharmendra Pradhan has already served as the in-charge of BJP Karnataka from 2011–2013. On the other hand, Annamalai is well-known for his service as the former IPS officer of the Karnataka cadre. He was also fondly called Singham Annamalai in Karnataka. Annamalai who joined the service in 2011 resigned from his service in 2019 to join the BJP.
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Meanwhile, the Karnataka Legislative Assembly election is due before May 2023. Therefore, the Election Commission is soon to notify elections for all 224 members of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly. Currently, the BJP is in power in Karnataka.
The Assembly elections were last held in Karnataka in May 2018. In the election, Janata Dal (Secular) and Indian National Congress (INC) received a thumping victory. JD(S) leader D Kumaraswamy was made the Chief Minister of Karnataka after the elections in 2018. However, the coalition government collapsed in July 2019 and the BJP formed a government. The party appointed BS Yediyurappa as the CM. Later, Yediyurappa resigned in 2021 and paved way for Basavaraj Bommai to become the CM of the state.