CHENNAI: O Panneerselvam ,who joined DMK on Friday, was first elected to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly in 2001 from the Periyakulam constituency as AIADMK MLA. In his very first term as an MLA, he was appointed as Minister for Public Works. The same year, when then Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa was sentenced to prison in the TANSI land deal case, Panneerselvam was chosen as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.
This shift of loyalty of OPS is not merely a routine political realignment; it is the final chapter in the story of a leader who once sat atop the power structure of Tamil Nadu but whose indecision and strategic miscalculations gradually eroded his political capital.
For nearly 15 years until Jayalalithaa’s demise, OPS remained the undisputed number two, a figure of stability within the party and government. However, the vacuum created by her death in 2016 triggered a tectonic shift. His "Dharma Yuddham" (righteous war) against V.K. Sasikala was a high-stakes gamble for legitimacy. While it initially painted him as the protector of the party’s legacy, the political maneuvering that followed saw him outflanked by Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS), who secured the Chief Minister’s post. The subsequent patch-up in 2017, which saw OPS return as Deputy Chief Minister and Party Coordinator, was less a victory and more a power-sharing truce in a party that historically abhors dual power centers.
The truce was inherently unstable. Following consecutive electoral defeats, the demand for a single leadership structure a euphemism for consolidating power under EPS grew. The abolition of the Coordinator posts and the reinstatement of the General Secretary position in June 2022 was a direct political purge, culminating in OPS’s expulsion the following month. His legal challenges against the expulsion failed, marking the beginning of his descent into political isolation.
Operating independently, OPS repeatedly signaled a desire for reconciliation with the AIADMK, a sign of political weakness rather than strength. His attempts to broker a return through the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) further complicated his position. By aligning with the BJP-led NDA and contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Ramanathapuram, he gambled on a national wave that never materialized in the state, suffering another defeat. His subsequent exit from the NDA, reportedly over a perceived snub by Prime Minister Modi, highlighted his diminishing bargaining power.
In the run-up to the 2026 Assembly elections, OPS found himself politically homeless. His attempts to re-enter the AIADMK via BJP mediation failed. Exploratory talks with T.T.V. Dhinakaran and former AIADMK minister Sengottaiyan, symbolized by their joint appearance at the Thevar Jayanthi, hinted at a possible third front or reunification of the "old guard," but these efforts never crystallized into a concrete political alternative.
The final blow to his leadership came from within his own camp. His indecisiveness setting a reinstatement deadline for December 15, only to rename his organisation the next day, and then dithering between an alliance with actor Vijay’s TVK or the DMK proved fatal. Politics abhors a vacuum, and his inability to provide a clear roadmap led to a steady exodus of key supporters like Vaithilingam, Manoj Pandian, and Subburathinam. This erosion of his support base left him with no organizational leverage.
Today’s induction into the DMK is the logical conclusion of this trajectory. For Stalin and the DMK, it is a strategic masterstroke assimilating a former rival who carries the legacy of the opposing ideology, thereby further fragmenting the AIADMK vote bank and consolidating anti-AIADMK forces. For OPS, it is a pragmatic surrender; a move born not from ideological conviction, but from the political necessity of survival after his independent options collapsed. Once a kingmaker and a king, OPS now enters the DMK fold not as a conqueror, but as a refugee from a ship he himself failed to steer.