TIRUCHY: In a sign of the last nail in the coffin of former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, hundreds of cadres, including several office-bearers of the AIADMK Thondargal Urimai Meetpu Kazhagam (TUMK), rejoined the parent unit, the AIADMK, to which OPS has been denied entry.
Those who rejoined the AIADMK on Saturday included Tiruverumbur south union secretary Ravanan, north union secretary SKD Karthik, Kattur branch secretary Muruganandam, Ariyamangalam branch secretary Dhandapani, and Ponmalai branch secretary Balasubramanian, among others.
The cadres returned to the parent party in the presence of Tiruchy rural south district secretary Kumar, citing uncertainty over the future of the OPS faction and lack of clarity on alliances as elections draw closer.
Speaking on the occasion, Kumar said many functionaries were unwilling to align with the DMK, choosing instead to return to the AIADMK, which they viewed as the party founded on the principles of leaders such as MG Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa. He added that more cadres from the OPS camp were expected to follow, asserting that there was little political future in remaining with the faction.
The fact that they had rejoined AIADMK rather than any other party is seen as a blow to OPS. This adds to the back-to-back setbacks suffered by OPS in his efforts to keep his camp intact and enter into a poll tie-up ahead of the Assembly elections.
With political parties stepping up groundwork and finalising alliances for the polls, the OPS-led TUMK is yet to firm up its electoral strategy, leaving cadres increasingly disillusioned. The recent move by R Vaithilingam, who led around 10,000 supporters into the DMK, is said to have accelerated the exodus.