Chennai, April 12 -- The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has appointed Nainar Nagendran as the new president of its Tamil Nadu unit, replacing K Annamalai, media reports said.

A three-time MLA from Tirunelveli, Nagendran's immediate challenge will be to revitalise the party's prospects ahead of next year's Assembly election in a state where the BJP has traditionally struggled to gain traction, according to an NDTV report.

His task could be bolstered by the party's decision to rekindle its alliance with the AIADMK, Tamil Nadu's main opposition party.

The former state BJP chief has had a combative relationship with the Dravidian party, questioning the alliance and allegedly making disparaging remarks about its iconic leaders, including form...