It is 4 pm. The scorching sun beat down relentlessly across the salt pans in the arid Ramanathapuram district. Tucked between Rameswaram and Sivaganga, Ramanathapuram in South Tamil Nadu is witnessing a high-profile battle. No. Not a battle to retrieve the Katchatheevu islet or to bring back the fishermen incarcerated in the Sri Lankan prisons for unknowingly entering into the international waters. But to “retrieve” AIADMK from Edappadi K Palaniswami.
“Lord Ram came here. Offered prayers to Lord Shiva, went to Sri Lanka and brought back Sita. This is a holy land, from where lord Ram got justice. My fight to retrieve AIADMK and bring back justice to the 1.5 crores cadres of the party begins from this holy land,” former Tamil Nadu chief minister O Panneerselvam (OPS) told The Week.
The sound of high-decibel crackers pierces the eardrums. A few men with BJP flags in hand and the jackfruit symbol printed white shawl draped around their neck wait as a white van enters the narrow road. The 74-year-old OPS with a dash of vermillion on his forehead arises atop the vehicle. “Do you all who I am?” he asks the small crowd around the van. “OPS” comes the reply. “What is our symbol? he again asks. “Jackfruit” says the crowd. “There are five Panneerselvams contesting. Our symbol is jackfruit. Remember and vote for jackfruit on April 19,” he says to ensure that the dummy candidates don't eat up his vote share.
The three-time chief minister and an ardent loyalist of Jayalalithaa, Panneerselvam aims to "retrieve" the AIADMK and be one of the MPs in Parliament under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Panneerselvam is contesting his first Lok Sabha election from the Ramanathapuram constituency in a bid to stay relevant in Tamil Nadu politics. On the ground he has many challenges—the first is to prove that he is the original OPS, the second to win the maximum number of votes, and finish at least second in the race to say that the majority OBC Thevar community backs him. Another challenge for OPS is convincing the huge chunk of the Muslim population in the constituency. Being in the BJP alliance, OPS makes an effort to convince the Muslim community saying “Modi or the BJP are not against the Muslims. They treat everyone be it Hindus or Muslims as equals.”
It was Panneerselvam himself who chose to contest from the Ramanathapuram constituency, comprising six assembly segments—Aranthangi, Thiruchuli, Paramakudi, Thiruvadanai, Ramanathapuram and Mudukulathur. He is pitted against incumbent MP Nawaz Kani of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) from the INDIA bloc and AIADMK’s P. Jeyaperumal.
A staunch supporter of Modi, after the death of Jayalalithaa, Panneerselvam doesn’t regret or want to revisit any of his decisions in the past seven years. He is only critical of AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami for taking over the party. At Thoruvaaloor, one of the interior pockets near RS Mangalam in the Ramanathapuram constituency, OPS stops his campaign vehicle to talk briefly to The Week. Excerpts:
How important is this election for you?
For the past 10 years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been running a very successful government at the Centre. The people of all the states across India want Modi to win this election and continue to be the prime minister.
But how important is this election for you, as you are someone who had been the chief minister of Tamil Nadu thrice?
More than being important for me, I only want Modiji to become the prime minister of the country again. That is my aim.
So you don’t want to get back into the AIADMK?
My aim is to retrieve the AIADMK from Edappadi K Palaniswami, who took over the party by amending the AIADMK bylaws. I have started the job of retrieving the rights of the AIADMK cadres. When our revolutionary leader MGR launched the party, he had brought in several rules for the party in the form of bylaws. For the past 50 years both MGR and Amma followed the bylaws. All the bylaws can be amended, except one. The highest position in the party is the general secretary post. For this post the 1.5 crore cadres in the party have to vote and elect the general secretary. But he has amended this. This is a huge betrayal of MGR and Amma. He has amended it saying anyone contesting for the general secretary post has to be proposed by 10 district secretaries and seconded by another set of 10 district secretaries. This amendment will not allow an ordinary cadre to contest for the general secretary position. Only the zamindars or landlords or the richest crorepatis can only contest for the general secretary post in a party that was launched for the cadres.
What is your next step?
AIADMK has to come back to the cadres. It should function as a democratic party like how it was under Amma. My only job now is to retrieve the party and give it back to the cadres. His decision has spoiled the prospects of the party. After EPS took over the administration of the party, the AIADMK has lost in nine elections. And this will be the 10th election to lose. After this, he will face a political wilderness. He did not consult me while making any of the crucial decisions. It is all his head weight.
