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Lakshmi Subramanian
Lakshmi Subramanian

TAMIL NADU

For OPS, is it just the beginning of real political war?

INDIA-COURT-CORRUPTION The war has just begun, says Panneerselvam | AFP

Despite the defeat in the trust vote on Saturday, O. Panneerselvam and the MLAs supporting him feel that they still have the political war to fight.

In 1987, when M.G. Ramachandran breathed his last without identifying his political heir who could lead his party, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) was in total chaos. The tug of war between his wife Vaikkoom Narayani Janaki and the then celebrated film actor Jayalalithaa Jeyaram almost led the party into a vertical split. 

Exactly 30 years later now, Jayalalithaa also left the AIADMK without identifying a leader to head the party. And, in the ensuing battle between her close aide V.K.Sasikala and her ardent loyalist O.Panneerselvam to claim the former chief minister's legacy, Tamil Nadu politics reached a low ebb.

Sasikala, though convicted in a graft case recently, has the last laugh as she finally managed to win the battle by getting her proxy Edappai K. Palanisamy to be sworn in as the chief minister. As Palanisamy won the trust vote on Saturday with the support of 122 MLAs, it is a definite victory for the AIADMK chief and her Mannargudi family.

Panneerselvam’s all out measure to take on Sasikala might have failed inside the floor of the assembly, but he asserts that the war has just begun. “We might have lost the battle. But the real political war has just begun. The war for justice will continue,” a smiling Panneerselvam told the media waiting outside the secretariat. 

Though he could not break the legislative support of the Sasikala camp, Panneerselvam and his 10 supporters in the assembly seemed to have earned the massive popular support. On the day when Edappadi K. Palanisamy took over as the chief minister, Panneerselvam reached Jayalalithaa’s memorial and requested the MLAs to visit their constituencies before casting their vote in the assembly. He also said he would visit constituencies of all the 124 legislators who are in support of Sasikala and urge the people to teach them a lesson.

In 1987 too, Jayalaithaa was quick to grab this public opinion and cash in on the public anger against Janaki, just by understanding the fact that the people were against Karunanidhi and his party and that they wanted MGR’s rule to continue. Even before Jayalalithaa, when MGR was sacked as treasurer from the DMK in 1972, he went to the people and managed to muster a huge public support that later brought a big following for him.

MGR then called for the people to gather outside the offices of their legislators and wake their conscience. It worked out and even went to the extent of police complaints being filed against MGR. He had to appear before courts for “instigating” violence. However, the trend began changing in favour of him and he broke away to form the AIADMK in 1973 when there was a by-election in Dindigul. After a massive victory for MGR, people started defecting camps to support him.

Now it seems Panneerselvam has read the public opinion well. He is all out to wage a war against the Mannargudi family, grabbing the public opinion. “The civic polls are due. And then there is the RK Nagar by-election. The party and the government may be with them. But they cannot cultivate our Amma’s charisma,” says an AIADMK district functionary associated with the OPS camp. 

R.K. Nagar constituency, which fell vacant after Jayalalithaa's death on December 5, will have to go to vote by June while the local body elections will have to be conducted before April.

In another development which could spell further trouble for Sasikala, the Election Commission has sought explanation from the party chief based on Rajya Sabha MP V. Maitreyan’s petition. This also gives Panneerselvam camp hopes of getting the rein of the party again. 

However, at present, the former chief minister is left in the lurch with just 10 MLAs and a few MPs on his side. Though the party seniors are with him, not even a single MLA has opened up against Palanisamy or Sasikala. Assembly Speaker P. Dhanapal’s speech in the assembly after EPS winning the trust vote only invoked Jayalalithaa and how Palanisamy and his leader Sasikala wanted Jayalalithaa’s government. 

“This is what people want. We will definitely give a stable government. This is people’s government, Amma’s government,” says Palanismay.

Panneerselvam has several options to prove his might outside the assembly, but he will also have to sail through an equal number of challenges.

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Topics : #Panneerselvam

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