In a significant political development, former chief minister and AIADMK rebel leader O. Panneerselvam formally announced his exit from the BJP-led NDA. Known to be a staunch Modi loyalist, OPS chose to end the relationship with the NDA after being snubbed multiple times by the BJP high command in the past few months.
The move which was long anticipated, since the close of 2024 Lok Sabha elections, came after the supporters of Panneerselvam felt it as a humiliation and a political snub by the BJP’s Delhi command. Sources say that Modi did not choose to give him an appointment, despite Panneerselva, popularly known as OPS sending several overtures in the past few months after the AIADMK formally entered the NDA fold. Incidentally on July 28, at the Tiruchirappalli airport, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami met prime minister Narendra Modi. The duo shared a new bonhomie, while the leaders of the other partners in the NDA in Tamil Nadu like A.C. Shanmugam, former Union minister G.K.Vasan also were given time. Though it was not a formal meeting, the leaders greeted Modi.
However OPS who was waiting to hear from the PMO for an audience with the PM was left in the lurch. “The PM did not meet OPS. We believe it was because Palaniswami did not want it. But at least if PM had not met the other NDA leaders, we can understand that it was only a courtesy meeting for just Palaniswami. But Vasan, Shanmugam and others were asked to come to the airport to welcome Modi,” sources close to OPS’s family told THE WEEK.
“He only wants to get back into the AIADMK. He is not even asking for any post. When Palaniswami is not agreeing for this, the BJP which once advised him should have brokered a truce now. That too did not happen,” the source said. And the meeting with Stalin was only a courtesy to indicate that the BJP cannot afford to snub him. Sources also say that it OPS chose to go to CM’s residence only because Stalin invited him home when they met during the morning walk.
“There are no permanent friends or foes in politics. There is no one who had always emerged victorious or who had lost elections forever,” OPS told the media after meeting Stalin at his Chitranjan road residence in Chennai.
However, OPS’s exit means a huge impact on the BJP and the AIADMK vote bank in South Tamil Nadu. In atleast 88 constituencies down Madurai and up till Tirunelveli, OPS can cause a dent in the vote bank by playing the caste card, The Mukkulathor (the umbrella term used to cover three castes - Kallar, Maravar and Agamudaiyar) in the South, contribute to seven percent. The community is politically vibrant and had always been with the AIAMDK during MGR and Jayalalithaa’s leadership.
There are close to 30 constituencies in Tirunelveli, Tenkasi, Virudhunagar and Theni districts which have majority Maravar votes, OPS’s community. If not in all the 88 constituencies, he can tilt the Thevar votes in these 30 constituencies. In 2024, out of the 18 percent votes scored by the BJP alliance, TTV Dhinakaran’s Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam and OPS’s AIADMK Cadres’ Rights Retrieval Committee contributed to atleast four percent votes in Theni, Madurai and Ramanathapuram.
While OPS has still not joined the DMK or not formally announced ties with the DMK alliance, the DMK under Stalin is playing a calculated political game to isolate the AIADMK-BJP alliance in Tamil Nadu. Sources say that OPS in the next few months will expose AIADMK leader Palaniswami’s political fallouts, how his government was marred with corruption and why he clinched a deal with the BJP now. Though OPS doesn’t command a huge cadre base in the AIADMK, his exit will cost the NDA.