Thiruvananthapuram: AIADMK veteran and three-time Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam (OPS) joined the ruling DMK on Thursday, after months of failed efforts to become part of the NDA and futile attempts to unite different AIADMK factions.
After formally joining the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in the presence of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, OPS, who was a close aide of the late AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalithaa, praised the DMK.
The state is witnessing good governance under Stalin’s leadership, he said.
OPS, who fought against the DMK all his political career till now, said he joins the party as a cadre with “full happiness”, and that the party has done exemplary work in protecting Tamil Nadu and ensuring its progress.
“To Thalapathi, who embraced me with affection, I express my gratitude,” OPS (75) said, referring to CM Stalin (72).
The leader also recalled that late DMK supremo M. Karunanidhi had once praised him as “Pachai Tamizhar Panneerselvam” (True Tamilian Panneerselvam) when he earlier assumed office as chief minister.
Training his guns at AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS), with whom he fought a bitter factional war within the party, OPS said the AIADMK is moving towards destruction under EPS.
EPS is “sidelining” leaders from southern districts of the state, OPS alleged.
Hailing from the Thevar community in southern Tamil Nadu’s Theni district, OPS previously represented Periyakulam from 2001 to 2006 in the assembly, and the district’s Bodinayakanur constituency since 2011.
His DMK move comes months after walking out of the BJP-led NDA in July, 2025, at personal level. Though there were engagements with the alliance afterwards, they were futile due to a lack of a green signal from EPS who would not allow him to come back to the AIADMK, leading to uncertainties regarding his political future.
Amid this, several of his associates had defected to the DMK, including ex-AIADMK minister R. Vaithilingam, who joined the party in January this year.
EPS and OPS had been politically estranged since the leadership tussle between them after the death of former chief minister J. Jayalalithaa in 2016. Over the years, EPS has consolidated control of the party.
After the factional divisions widened, the AIADMK general council abolished the dual leadership arrangement in 2022 and elevated EPS as interim general secretary, removing OPS and his supporters from the party’s primary membership.
Since then, OPS’ attempts to reconcile with EPS and return to a unified AIADMK have repeatedly failed.
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மாண்புமிகு தமிழ்நாடு முதலமைச்சர் கழகத் தலைவர் மு.க.ஸ்டாலின் அவர்கள் முன்னிலையில்
முன்னாள் முதலமைச்சர் ஓ. பன்னீர்செல்வம் அவர்கள் தலைமையில்
மக்களவை முன்னாள் உறுப்பினர் இரவீந்திரநாத், Ex.M.P., உசிலம்பட்டி சட்டமன்ற உறுப்பினர் பி.அய்யப்பன், எம்.எல்.ஏ. மற்றும்… pic.twitter.com/RpqUpOIYff
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At present, the AIADMK is aligned with the NDA in the state, along with the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), T.T.V. Dhinakaran’s Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK), among others.
A former AIADMK leader, Dhinakaran, floated AMMK after being expelled from the Dravidian party in 2018.
Days ago, the OPS had clarified that he would not float his own party, a route adopted by another close aide of Jayalalithaa, V.K. Sasikala, who was also expelled from the AIADMK.
Subburathinam, who was earlier with the OPS camp and now is a DMK functionary, told ThePrint that OPS’ latest move comes after his ‘all out’ attempts to reunite the AIADMK, which was thwarted by the EPS.
“On the invitation of Amit Shah, he (OPS) went to meet him in Delhi. He had explained his position. But even after that, EPS, instead of trying to make the alliance (NDA) win, tried to keep the control of the party (by not letting OPS come back),” he said, adding that the decision regarding OPS’ candidacy in the Assembly polls will be taken soon.
Assembly elections are due in the state in April-May. “He (OPS) has been representing the Bodi constituency, our leader Stalin will make the right decision,” Subburathinam said.
Talking to ThePrint, political analyst Sumanth C. Raman said OPS joining the DMK camp would give a perception boost for the ruling alliance in the run-up to the election, though it would not have any significant impact on the ground.
“The AIADMK was refusing to take him back. The BJP was also lukewarm. Then he had nowhere else to go. I mean, he could have gone to the TVK, but he saw what happened to Sengottaiyan. He would have gotten concerned. But politically for him, it’s the end of the road. What can he get from DMK? At most, he can be an MLA,” Sumanth said.
Sumanth added that OPS lost credibility, going from having four MLAs— who stayed loyal to him when EPS consolidated control of the party—at one point to losing that organisational structure.
Former minister Sengottaiyan was expelled from the AIADMK last year, after he openly pushed for unity with other expelled leaders such as OPS.
He joined the actor-politician Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) in November and was appointed the Chief Coordinator of the high-level administrative committee of the party, and the organisational secretary to four western districts of Coimbatore, Erode, Tiruppur, and the Nilgiris.
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OPS, who was considered a close aide of former Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa, himself served as chief minister thrice, from September 2001 to March 2002, when Jayalalithaa was convicted in the TANSI land case; from September 2014 to May 2015 (when she was convicted in the disproportionate assets case); and then following her demise in December 2016.
In 2017, OPS openly went to war against another Jayalalithaa close aide, V.K. Sasikala, party’s former general secretary was set to replace him as chief minister. However, Sasikala was convicted in a disproportionate assets case and was later expelled from the party the same year.
The party later saw more internal struggles after it adopted a dual leadership model in 2017, with both EPS and OPS as coordinators. This system ended in 2022 after party functionaries moved against OPS, leading to his expulsion for “anti-party activities”, paving the way for EPS to take control of the party.
Though OPS approached the Madras High Court challenging his expulsion. It dismissed his plea in January 2024.
The leader then aligned with the BJP-led NDA before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The alliance fielded him as an Independent candidate, but he lost to DMK ally IUML candidate Navas Kani by a margin of over one lakh votes.
He continued being the part of the alliance for more than a year, before exiting it in July 2025.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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