Is Annamalai in the fray or not?

The AIADMK led by Edappadi Palaniswami has once again formed an alliance with the BJP in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. Initially, the BJP demanded several key constituencies with a chance of winning, but the AIADMK did not immediately agree to it. Due to this, the negotiations dragged on for several stages. Later, the list of constituencies was released only after Union Minister Piyush Goyal came to Chennai and held consultations with alliance leaders including Edappadi Palaniswami. The constituencies allocated to the BJP include 27 constituencies including Mylapore, Modakkurichi, Avinashi, Tiruppur South, Coimbatore North, Madurai South, Tiruchendur, Nagercoil, Thanjavur, and Tiruvannamalai.
While other parties in the alliance are speeding up the election process by announcing candidates, only the BJP continues to struggle with releasing its candidate list.
The Delhi high command is determined to ensure that former BJP state president Annamalai contests this election. However, there is ongoing confusion over the constituency from which Annamalai will contest.
Meanwhile, Vanathi Srinivasan, the current MLA from Coimbatore South constituency, is set to contest from Coimbatore North constituency this time. This seems to have been confirmed. This leaves the question of which constituency Annamalai will be allotted yet to be decided. As the last date for filing nominations approaches, the delay in the release of the BJP candidate list has created a stir in BJP circles. In particular, there is high expectation among his supporters about which constituency Annamalai will contest from.
Annamalai seems to be adamant that he will contest only if the Coimbatore North constituency is allotted to him. This has caused a stir within the party.
In this situation, after a long consultation at Kamalalayam under the leadership of BJP’s top in-charge Piyush Goyal, it seems that the proposed list for all the constituencies has been finalized. There is no possibility of Annamalai being allotted the Coimbatore North constituency as per his wish. He does not want to contest from any other constituency.
His supporters say that “Annamalai is stubborn. Therefore, if he does not get the Coimbatore North constituency, he will withdraw from contesting this election.” Overall, Annamalai is responsible for the delay in releasing the BJP candidate list.
So, will Annamalai accept the seat allotted for the election and contest? Will he campaign across the state without contesting? It will only be known for sure when the Delhi BJP chief releases the official list!