Panneerselvam, aka OPS has long been engaged in battles with the courts and the Election Commission of India (ECI) to return to Tamil Nadu’s top political group, the AIADMK. But, he has now joined the rival party DMK.
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After joining DMK, he thanked CM and DMK President Stalin, saying that he has joined the party “with absolute joy”.
“EPS is behaving as a dictator, and he has created an AIADMK which cannot get victory hereafter,” he said.
He noted that Stalin is giving good governance to people, and people are watching it. “EPS is keen on making sure no leaders from the South become strong. To save Dravidian Movement, policy of the Dravidian, it’s the DMK which is working. I have just joined as a cadre. I will be one among the party cadres and work for the party’s development,” the new joinee said.
He took the decision after AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami welcomed AMMK chief T T V Dhinakaran, another expelled AIADMK leader, into the NDA, sources told the Times of India. In August last year, Panneerselvam withdrew from NDA, citing “insults” from the BJP camp, after which he called Home Minister Amit Shah to convey that he would not join NDA unless the AIADMK factions are unified.”I pleaded with him to bring together the groups and unify the party. He (Shah) said he had tried to persuade (EPS) but he wouldn’t listen … Shall I join the Sankara mutt?” Panneeselvam said, as quoted by TOI.
Before Panneeselvam arrived at the DMK headquarters, his son Raveendran also arrived as CM Stalin reached the party office to welcome OPS into the DMK fold.
DMK leaders said there was an exchange of messages with OPS. “We told him to join our party. He is scheduled to join tomorrow morning,” a senior DMK leader told TOI on Thursday.
Recently, two of Panneerselvam’s supporters R Vaithilingam and Paul Manoj Pandian, resigned their MLA posts and joined DMK.
Late Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Jayalalithaa chose Panneerselvam as the stand-in chief minister twice in 2001 and 2014. Following this campaign, he returned to the CM seat in 2016 after Jayalalithaa’s death, but lost the post within a couple of months.
He also served as deputy CM and joint coordinator of AIADMK, but soon his differences with Palaniswami grew.
As per a report by TOI, Palaniswami got the party bylaws amended in July 2022 to eliminate the dual leadership structure and expel OPS from the party.
As for the seat OPS is likely to get in DMK, a party leader said, “There are contenders in our party for the Bodinayakkanur seat. He may be given another seat in the region.”
Recently, Panneerselvam’s camp praised Stalin, raising predictions of him joining the DMK. Earlier, Tamil Nadu MLA P Ayyappan expressed his desire to see Stalin lead the state again following the next assembly polls. Ayyappan, who is seen as being part of O Paneerselvam’s camp, stated in the Assembly that Stalin must once again become the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.
The 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly will undergo Assembly polls in the first half of 2026, where the MK Stalin-led alliance will look to project the ‘Dravidian Model 2.0’ for the win against the BJP-AIADMK alliance. The exact date of the state elections remains undisclosed.
Apart from the battle between DMK and the alliance, Actor-turned-politician Vijay’s entry with his Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) party is expected to turn the Tamil Nadu polls into a three-way contest.
In the last state elections held in 2021, the DMK won 133 seats, Congress won 18, PMK won five, VCK won four, and others won eight seats. The DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA), consisting of Congress, won 159 seats collectively. While the BJP-led-NDA won 75 seats, the AIADMK emerged as the largest party in the alliance with 66 seats.
(With inputs from agencies)
