Chennai, March 6 : A day after BJP's Tamil Nadu IT Cell chief C.T.R. Nirmal Kumar resigned and joined the AIADMK, party IT wing Secretary Dilip Kannan quit the party on Monday. Like Nirmal Kumar, Kannan has named party state chief K. Annamalai as the reason behind his quitting the party. The BJP leader, who was in charge of the IT Cell in the party's stronghold in the Kanniyakumari district, announced his resignation from the party through social media platforms, saying he was leaving the BJP "with a heavy heart". Kannan's resignation close on the heels of Nirmal Kumar has led to the saffron party turning defensive with no senior leaders not responding to the questions posed by the media. However, the AIADMK's decision to accommodate Nirmal Kumar has led to a war of words between the leaders of the two parties. Amar Prasad Reddy, state in charge of the BJP's sports and skill development wing and a close aide of Annamalai, tweeted: "AIADMK being an alliance partner should not have done this". He also added that under the leadership of Annamalai, the BJP would form the government in Tamil Nadu. The AIADMK hit out against Amar Prasad Reddy's statement and mocked at him for speaking of the alliance dharma. Meanwhile former BJP leader and actor Gayatri Raghuram, who has quit the party a couple of months ago, has also joined the issue. "Annamalai was asked to reach grass roots to grow BJP in Tamil Nadu. Instead Annamalai is cutting off BJP roots in the state.TN BJP doesn't need DMK, MDMK, VCK, CPI, INC or NTK. Annamalai is good enough to finish BJP in Tamil Nadu", she tweeted. Raghuram, who was a movie actor and anchor, had resigned from the party after coming out against Annamalai and his style of functioning. DMK leader and Rajya Sabha MP Tiruchi Siva's son, Tiruchi Surya had joined the BJP and was in charge of its OBC morcha. However he had also quit the party after coming out against Annamalai. Talking to IANS on the condition of anonymity, a senior state BJP leader said: "The BJP has been getting the support of the Brahmin community from time immemorial. This was the base of the Tamil Nadu BJP. Till L. Murugan was at the helm, the growth of the party was organic and was in the right direction. When Annamalai came to head the BJP, he thought that the BJP could be changed overnight and tried to impose his dictatorial attitude in the party, which was not well accepted by the veterans." The leader said that if Annamalai does not change his attitude towards the state BJP, the party will have be going down the drain. /IANS