Former Tamil Nadu BJP president and founder of the We The Leaders movement K. Annamalai is increasingly baring his Dravidiani Stock fangs at the BJP. In this instance, he has pushed a narrative that the DMK did earlier and ‘criticised’ what he described as a “Gujarat-centric” approach to development under the BJP-led NDA government, arguing that investments, technology projects and major sporting events cannot be concentrated in a single state.
Annamalai made the remarks at the India Today Tamil Nadu Round Table in Chennai on Monday, 17 August 2026, taking aim at the decision-making structure of his former party, which currently leads the Union government.
The 42-year-old former IPS officer said the BJP had become increasingly “Delhi-centric” and called for greater authority for state-level leaders.
“I believe the decisions of the BJP are becoming Delhi-centric, so it is very unfortunate. That has to change,” Annamalai said.
He argued that state leaders should be given greater freedom to take decisions and implement them.
“Genuinely, they have to empower state-level leaders to make actions. It has to happen,” he said.
Annamalai then turned his criticism towards Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, questioning what he called the “Gujarat-centric model of Delhi development”.
“And the Gujarat-centric model of Delhi development has to change a bit,” Annamalai said. “You can’t have all the AI companies going there or wafer companies going there, 2030 Commonwealth Games going there, 2030 police games going there, 2036 Olympic Games going to Ahmedabad. You cannot have this Gujarat model of all-India development,” he added.
“That has to change. People are watching,” Annamalai said.
Is Annamalai Unaware Or Chosen To Ignore The Massive Gujarat’s Sporting Infrastructure Development?
Annamalai’s Gujarat argument falls apart on one basic question: where else in India has comparable sporting infrastructure been built? Gujarat did not get global sporting events because it merely asked for them. It built the infrastructure to host them. If Tamil Nadu has failed to build facilities of comparable scale, then the fault lies with Tamil Nadu. Annamalai should be asking why Tamil Nadu has not built them instead of peddling a convenient political narrative.
Additionally, Annamalai’s sweeping claim can be easily disproven with available records.
India has hosted major international sporting events across several states over the past decade.
- The 2014 Men’s Hockey Champions Trophy was held in Bhubaneswar.
- The 2016 South Asian Games were held across Guwahati and Shillong, while the ICC World T20 was staged across multiple cities.
- The Junior Hockey World Cup was held in Lucknow in 2016.
- Bhubaneswar subsequently hosted the 2017 Asian Athletics Championships and the 2018 Men’s Hockey World Cup.
- The 2019 ISSF Shooting World Cup was held in multiple locations.
- Tamil Nadu itself hosted the 2022 FIDE Chess Olympiad in Chennai.
- We also had the 2023 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup being held across Bhubaneswar, Goa and Navi Mumbai.
- The 2023 MotoGP Bharat in Noida.
- The 2023 IOC Session in Mumbai.
- And the 2023 G20 Summit, whose meetings were held across more than 60 Indian cities.
- More recently, Bhubaneswar hosted World Athletics events in 2025, while New Delhi hosted the World Para Athletics Championships.
- Guwahati hosted the BWF World Junior Championship, and the 2025 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup was staged across multiple cities, with the final in Mumbai.
Even Ahmedabad’s prominence needs to be viewed in context.
Gujarat has become prominent in India’s future mega-event, especially Ahmedabad. That’s a topic for debate, but saying the Centre has given all international events to Gujarat is false.
Major International events hosted in India.@narendramodi is not biased towards 1 state. pic.twitter.com/Gt2ao8lIAV
— Anand T Prasad (@itisatp) August 17, 2026
The city has been developed as a major sporting hub, with world-class infrastructure such as the Narendra Modi Stadium and other facilities capable of hosting events on a global scale. If Ahmedabad is being considered for future Commonwealth Games or the 2036 Olympics, the presence of the necessary infrastructure is hardly an argument against Gujarat.
It is, in fact, the result of investment in sporting infrastructure.
What Has Tamil Nadu Built?
If the argument is that every state should get an opportunity to host major international sporting events, then state governments must also build the infrastructure required to host them.
Tamil Nadu has produced some of India’s finest sporting talent and Chennai has hosted major international competitions. But that does not automatically make the state a contender for every mega-event.
A former state BJP president should be able to distinguish between questioning the Centre’s allocation of projects and pretending that infrastructure is irrelevant to where global events are awarded.
The 2036 Olympics, for instance, would require massive sporting, transport, accommodation and urban infrastructure. Ahmedabad’s pitch is built around an existing ecosystem of large-scale sporting facilities and ongoing infrastructure development.
Simply pointing at Gujarat and declaring that the Centre is following a “Gujarat model of all-India development” does not answer the more basic question: which other Indian cities have built comparable infrastructure to host events of that scale?
Criticism Is Fair. Propaganda Is Not.
Annamalai is free to question the Centre’s investment priorities but pretending that Gujarat’s sporting prominence is simply the result of Modi and Shah favouring their home state is propaganda, not analysis.
Gujarat has invested heavily in world-class sporting infrastructure and built the capacity to host events of a scale that few Indian cities can currently match. Meanwhile, India has hosted major international events across Bhubaneswar, Guwahati, Shillong, Lucknow, Noida, Mumbai, New Delhi, Goa, Navi Mumbai and Chennai.
Annamalai knows the difference between infrastructure-led opportunity and political favouritism. Choosing to ignore that difference to push a Gujarat-versus-rest narrative is exactly the kind of propaganda he once accused the Dravidian parties of peddling.
Subscribe to our channels on WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram and YouTube to get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.
