For years, they called each other traitors. In 2017, when T T V Dhinakaran emerged as the political face of the V K Sasikala camp in AIADMK (that surfaced after J Jayalalithaa’s death), Edappadi K Palaniswami’s camp accused him of attempting to “hijack Amma’s party”. TTV shot back that he had the backing of a majority of AIADMK cadres, and then a year later, formed the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK).Nine years later, Palaniswami has reunited with the AMMK chief in a bid to reclaim the politically influential mukkulathor vote bank comprising the kallar, maravar and agamudayar communities (collectively known as thevars), which had shifted towards TTV.
TTV’s earlier split had hurt AIADMK in the southern constituencies in the 2021 election making his return to NDA electorally significant. In 2021, AMMK tilted the prospects of the AIADMK alliance in 17 seats and DMK alliance in five seats across the state, polling more than 2% of votes, much of them in thevar-dominated constituencies such as Kovilpatti, Usilampatti and Mannargudi. At the time, Union home minister Amit Shah pushed for a reconciliation with TTV and Sasikala to consolidate the anti-DMK vote, but Palaniswami refused to accommodate them. DMK and ally Congress won 39 out of the 57 seats in the southern districts in that election.Now, a key test for this new alliance ahead of the 2026 Assembly election will be whether the major OBC bloc that backed TTV will transfer its support to AIADMK. “Dhinakaran is enough to get back the thevar votes to us, akin to the influence of PMK among vanniyars. Actor Karthik could have become a major force for thevars years ago, but Dhinakaran makes a difference now by securing votes in thousands,” says a former AIADMK minister, a close associate of EPS.Several attempts have been made in the past to consolidate the thevar community under smaller outfits. Parties such as actor Karthik’s Akila India Naadalum Makkal Katchi launched in 2009, and the Makkal Urimai Kaakkum Katchi founded in 2018 all sought to position themselves as champions of the community’s welfare, but none achieved the momentum they hoped for. The Forward Bloc led by freedom fighter and iconic thevar leader Pasumpon Muthuramalingam in Tamil Nadu lost its steam over the years. Outfits such as actor Karunaas’ Mukkulathor Pulipadai and Moovendar Munnetra Kazhagam leader Sridhar Vandayar back DMK now.Palaniswami has realised ditching TTV in 2021 was a mistake. On Jan 20, the AIADMK chief, seated next to TTV at a private hotel in Chennai, declared that they were “both raised by Jayalalithaa”, and that the “differences had been forgotten to continue the work left by the late leader, unitedly”. TTV declared that he was accepting EPS as the chief ministerial candidate – something he was opposed to. “The Union home minister tried his best to make us united in the previous election, but it did not materialise,” says TTV, who is eyeing 12 seats. “I contested alone which was one of the reasons that Amma govt could not return,” he says.Not everyone is happy with TTV’s decision to join hands with Palaniswami after snapping ties with NDA in Sept. The recent defection of AMMK south zone secretary S V S P Manickaraja, an influential leader in Tuticorin, to DMK, along with three district secretaries representing Kanyakumari and Tenkasi, exposes differences in AMMK. In private, AMMK’s functionaries say several senior colleagues are in touch with Manickaraja to join DMK. The contention is that accepting Palaniswami as the chief ministerial candidate contrasted with the idea of floating AMMK in 2018, against the expulsion of the Sasikala clan from the primary membership of the party. “We fear there will be no cohesion with AIADMK cadres on the ground,” says a functionary requesting anonymity. “For eight years we have opposed them. There is resentment over how leaders like Sasikala, TTV and Panneerselvam were treated.”The popularity of the influential thevar trio of Sasikala, TTV, and former chief minister O Panneerselvam in the southern region was recently acknowledged by former AIADMK minister K A Sengottaiyan. “Nothing can be done in 60 assembly seats without them,” he said in an interview to TOI. Now, with Sasikala and Panneerselvam out to play spoilsport, AIADMK’S big hope is TTV. Palaniswami, meanwhile, enjoys the support of leaders from the thevar community like Dindigul C Sreenivasan, Natham R Viswanathan, O S Manian, R B Udayakumar, Sellur K Raju, R Kamaraj and C Vijayabaskar, and Thiruparankundram MLA V V Rajan Chellappa. “Amma chose Panneerselvam to succeed her twice, while TTV emerged only after her passing. Panneerselvam is popular among the mukkulathor community due to his demeanour and political approach. AMMK cadres are switching allegiance to the DMK and Sasikala,” says P Ayyappan, Panneerselvam supporter and Usilampatti MLA.Panneerselvam seeks to retain his Bodinayakanur assembly seat in Theni, an electorate predominantly thevar. Sources say TTV has been telling his confidantes that he would defeat Panneerselvam in Bodinayakanur. But DMK is consolidating its support base in Theni, as the party’s MP Thanga Tamilselvan, also a thevar, who previously had a turf war with Panneerselvam, has buried the hatchet.Sasikala, who has launched All India Puratchi Thalaivar Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam, is set to field candidates in the southern belt. Last Tuesday, she visited PMK founder S Ramadoss, who has been in political distress after his son Anbumani virtually walked away with the party. Insiders say Sasikala asked the PMK leader to join Vijay’s TVK alliance along with her, and Ramadoss remained non-committal. A minor migration of cadres and functionaries from AMMK to Sasikala’s party is giving TTV a headache.What happened in 2021AMMK tilted the prospects of AIADMK alliance in 17 seats and DMK alliance in five seats across the state.AMMK contested in 166 seats with Vijayakanth’s DMDK, securing 2.4% of the votes polled in the state. The votes secured in Kovilpatti (56,153), Usilampatti (55,491), Karaikudi (44,864), Mannargudi (40,481), Thiruvaiyaru (37,469), Melur (34,262), Tiruvadanai (33,426), Sattur (32,916), and Nanguneri (31,870), which are predominantly thevar constituencies, are noteworthy. Much of these seats were won by DMK and its ally, Congress, and AMMK that came third would have made a difference had it aligned with AIADMK.These votes were not solely due to anti-EPS sentiment among thevars but also from those who opposed EPS’s exclusive internal quota extended to vanniyars on the day of the poll announcement. It was enabled by halving the Most Backward Classes (MBC) quota in education and employment while striking a poll deal with Ramadoss’s PMK.
