On November 23, former Chief Minister and expelled AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam sent out a press release condemning the DMK government’s decision to end Aavin’s Green Magic milk packets. He also criticised the ruling party’s failure in honouring poll promises one after another. While the communique contained nothing beyond a routine criticism by an Opposition leader, the note left OPS supporters disheartened for the leader had signed off the release as merely a former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in the official letter pad of a member of the TN Legislative Assembly. For his supporters, this has been the last blow.
More than two weeks have passed since the Madras High Court restrained OPS from using the ‘Two Leaves’ symbol, AIADMK party flag or even stake a claim to be a primary member of the AIADMK but the senior leader has neither come up with a significant response nor has apprised his cadre about his next move. Several AIADMK veterans who decided to remain loyal to O Panneerselvam after he parted ways with Edappadi Palaniswami following the latter’s election as General Secretary of the AIADMK in March this year are now gradually shifting to the EPS camp as they do not see any future in OPS. Speaking to the Ground Zero Post, a prominent AIADMK leader from the OPS camp in central Chennai lamented that the split is now beyond repair. “Several cadres have been quietly moving over to the EPS camp over the past few weeks. Even I am planning to do the same along with 200 supporters of mine. For us, the ‘Two Leaves’ symbol and the party flag are paramount. So, we have decided to get ourselves enrolled in the AIADMK again,” said the veteran party leader who has been an AIADMK loyalist since party founder MGR’s time. However, he is concerned about the reception they might get as the new AIADMK under EPS has already taken over all districts placing its loyalists in place of party veterans. Most cadre also claim that their leader OPS is willing for a truce with EPS and his team but the top leaders loyal to EPS are not in a mood to accommodate them.
“Several cadres have been quietly moving over to the EPS camp over the past few weeks. Even I am planning to do the same along with 200 supporters of mine. For us, the ‘Two Leaves’ symbol and the party flag are paramount.”
OPS supporter
Back in 2017, when OPS famously announced his ‘Dharma Yuddham’ outside Jayalalithaa memorial at the Marina Beach here and vowed to free the party from the clutches of V K Sasikala, a close aide of Jayalalithaa who was in full control of the party back then, none could have expected all the turns this battle has taken over the past six and a half years. Within a year, he did manage to oust V K Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dhinakaran from the party and also made a famous announcement of the same. By then, Edappadi Palaniswami had become the Chief Minister and OPS was the Convenor of the AIADMK and deputy Chief Minister. Between them – with the blessings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi – the two managed to steer the party as well as the government through several challenges including successive waves of the Covid-19 pandemic until the 2021 elections that turned out to be a game changer. As the Chief Minister during a horrific pandemic, EPS became the face of the AIADMK and the government’s relief measures and thus managed in putting up a decent show in the 2021 assembly elections.
“In this backdrop, the AIADMK parting ways with the BJP has been yet another blow for OPS who was known to have close ties with the centre since his days as the Chief Minister. His son MP P Ravindranath has also openly admired PM Modi angering many of his party colleagues who have been distancing themselves from the saffron party.”
Soon after the defeat in assembly polls, the struggle for party leadership began as the EPS camp had already made deep inroads in all parts of the state from being confined to western TN while the OPS camp struggled to retain even his community loyalists who are still split between him, VK Sasikala, and TTV Dhinakaran. Although OPS has since then made peace with Sasikala and her supporters in the interest of uniting the AIADMK, this has only managed to distance those cadre who truly believed in his Dharma Yuddham strengthening Edappadi’s claim over the party. In this backdrop, the AIADMK parting ways with the BJP has been yet another blow for OPS who was known to have close ties with the center since his days as the Chief Minister. His son MP P Ravindranath has also openly admired PM Modi annoying many of their party colleagues who have been distancing themselves from the saffron party.
With the BJP no longer in a position to influence the EPS camp and no unity among leaders of his community, OPS is currently in a position that no other politician would like to be in. Sources close to him claim that the demise of his wife two years ago has also been a personal blow to the leader which he is yet to recover from.
At 72, the veteran leader and former Chief Minister has to bring out a super weapon very soon from his arsenal for his Dharma Yuddham to yield any favourable results.