CHENNAI: A crucial meeting of district secretaries of the AIADMK Volunteers Rights Recovery Association will be held at 5 p.m. on Tuesday in Vepery, Chennai, under the leadership of senior leader Panruti Ramachandran, with former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam (OPS) expected to make an important political announcement.
With only a few months left for the state Assembly elections, the meeting has assumed significance amid growing speculation over OPS' future political alignment.
The meeting comes shortly after OPS renamed the AIADMK Volunteers Rights Recovery Committee as the AIADMK Volunteers Rights Recovery Association, a move widely seen as part of organisational consolidation ahead of the polls.
Soon after, OPS declared that he was being politically sidelined within the NDA and chose to withdraw from the alliance.
Despite quitting the NDA, OPS has not yet announced a new alliance.
In a development that reignited political speculation, he recently travelled to New Delhi along with his son at the invitation of the BJP. During the visit, OPS met Union Home Minister Amit Shah for around 20 minutes and is learnt to have also held discussions with other BJP leaders.
Addressing reporters later, OPS said the meeting with Amit Shah was a courtesy call and that the discussion focused on the prevailing political situation in Tamil Nadu.
However, political circles suggest that the BJP is keen on bringing OPS back into the NDA.
According to sources, OPS has placed a firm condition for any return - reunification of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK).
Sources said OPS clearly conveyed to Amit Shah that he would not rejoin the NDA until the AIADMK merger process is completed.
As anticipation builds ahead of the meeting in Chennai, observers believe the decisions emerging from the district secretaries' meet could shape the political course of OPS in the run-up to the elections.