Pics and Report: Rons Bantwal

Mumbai, Jan 11: As the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) heads towards elections following the 2017 civic polls and the addition of nine new wards, the political temperature in the country’s financial capital is steadily rising. With a high-stakes contest unfolding between the ruling Mahayuti alliance and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), former IPS officer and senior BJP leader K Annamalai (Annamalai Kuppusamy) arrived in Mumbai to campaign vigorously for BJP candidates.

Annamalai, former vice president of the Karnataka BJP and former state president of the Tamil Nadu BJP, is widely known by the sobriquet ‘Singam’, earned during his tenure as a police officer in Udupi, along the Karnataka coast. He landed at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Santacruz, where he was accorded a warm and enthusiastic welcome.

He was received with bouquets by BJP Mumbai secretary Bimal Bhat, prominent Tulu-Kannadiga leader and general secretary of the BJP South Indian cell, Mumbai, Vijay S Shetty Pankaje, along with several other party functionaries and well-wishers.

Following his arrival, Annamalai, accompanied by Vijay S Shetty, visited multiple constituencies across the city and actively participated in door-to-door campaigning and vote solicitation in support of BJP candidates.

Addressing party workers during the campaign, Annamalai expressed strong confidence in the party’s prospects, asserting that “the reins of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation will be firmly in the hands of the BJP this time.”

His visit is being seen as part of the BJP’s broader strategy to galvanise cadre support and consolidate votes, particularly among South Indian and coastal Karnataka communities in Mumbai, as the crucial civic battle approaches.