CHENNAI: After a two-member bench of the Madras High Court dismissed the plea of former chief minister O Panneerselvam and three of his supporters challenging their expulsion from the party, the question lingering in political circles - is this the end for former coordinator of the party OPS to claim his position in the AIADMK?
Though anything can be possible in politics and it was proven by ‘accidental CM’ Edappadi K Palaniswami, it would be a herculean task for the three time ‘interim’ chief minister Panneerselvam to reclaim his legacy now lost in the Dravidian land.
Several of his supporters have been desolate after learning about the HC order and said they are fighting a losing battle.
OPS said that they would decide on further course of action after holding discussion with the functionaries in his camp.
“There is a limited scope for our leader to continue the legal battle,” a member of the legal wing of OPS camp said and added that continuing the legal battle would be a meaningless exercise. He expressed anguish over Panneerselvam’s decision to join with Edappadi K Palaniswami camp and accepting the deputy Chief Minister post was a “political blunder.”
Apart from this, he “blindly followed the direction of the BJP leaders and it undid everything. It caused irreversible damage to the credibility of OPS after launching Dharmayutham against former CM Jayalalithaa’s close aide VK Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dhinakaran. Now, he joined hands with TTV and resorted to Dharmayutham 2.0 to reclaim the party from the EPS, whom he called as “betrayer”. “It is a herculean task to win back the trust of the people and the cadres. We have no other choice and continue our fight in people’s court,” he said.
OPS camp political consultant Panruti S Ramachandran told reporters that the HC’s Friday direction is an anticipated one. They would refrain from exploring legal provision anymore and focus their efforts in meeting the people and true loyalists of party founder MGR and late party supremo J Jayalalithaa to seek their support.