Chennai: Days after PM Narendra Modi declined to meet him and hours after he met Tamil Nadu CM M.K. Stalin during a morning walk in Adyar, former AIADMK leader O. Panneerselvam (OPS) Thursday walked out of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Not long after Modi declined to meet him, OPS publicly began to criticise the BJP-led central government for ‘withholding funds’ under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan Scheme—marking a shift from his earlier pro-BJP stance.
Speaking to reporters here Thursday, OPS adviser and former state minister Panruti S. Ramachandran said, “We are breaking the alliance with NDA. You all know the reason.”
He also said OPS would begin his state-wide tour ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections after taking stock of the prevailing political scenario in Tamil Nadu. “At present, we are not in alliance with any party,” Ramachandran said in response to a question about whether OPS would consider an alliance with another party ahead of the state polls.
On whether he would consider teaming up with actor-turned politician Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), former chief minister OPS said, “Time will tell, and there is still time for elections.”
Later in the evening, OPS met Stalin at his residence. Speaking to reporters, he said it was a formal meeting to inquire about his health and “no politics was discussed”. Asked if he would join the DMK-led alliance, he said, “Anything can happen in politics. There is enough time for elections. There is no permanent friend and permanent enemy in politics.”
OPS was always seen as Modi’s man in the AIADMK. He himself publicly told supporters in July 2017 that he decided to combine forces with AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) at the behest of the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Former coordinator of the AIADMK, OPS was expelled from the party in July 2022 and has since been heading the AIADMK Cadres Rights Retrieval Committee—while legally contesting EPS’s control of the party. Chennai-based political analysts ThePrint spoke to said OPS has three options, but it has yet to be seen if he can expand his support base.
Political analyst N. Sathiya Moorthy underlined that the main issue between OPS and EPS was that the former wanted to lead AIADMK and serve as chief minister. “Now, if he joins any party, he cannot be the chief ministerial face. Secondly, all these years, OPS is known to have been ideologically aligned with BJP. He cannot wash it off easily to join any of the parties in Tamil Nadu that are anti-BJP including Vijay’s TVK.”
However, referring to the former AIADMK leader’s meeting with Stalin, political commentator Raveenthran Duraisamy said OPS might join DMK and become its ‘Maravar face’. The Maravar is a backward community primarily based in southern Tamil Nadu.
“He (OPS) was shown the doors by BJP, hence he cannot go back there. Though TVK and Seeman’s NTK are there for him, he might choose DMK over others for a better political space,” Duraisamy told ThePrint. Sathiya Moorthy added that OPS might lose his support base if he joins the DMK, since its opposition to DMK has been a core tenet of the AIADMK.
Duraisamy, however, held a somewhat different view. The dynamics in Dravidian politics, he said, changed since the demise of former chief ministers M. Karunanidhi and J. Jayalalithaa.
“There is no hate against Stalin, unlike his father Karunanidhi. The previous elections data shows AIADMK’s votes have moved to DMK. It is also proven that a lot of former AIADMK ministers, including Senthil Balaji, Sekar Babu and K.K.S.S.R. Ramachandran, are now faring well in DMK as well. Hence, OPS has a good future in the DMK, but he may not reveal it now,” said Duraisamy.
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From CM to rebel: OPS’s political journey
After Jayalalithaa’s death on 5 December, 2016, OPS was unanimously elected chief minister by AIADMK MLAs. He had already served as chief minister between 2001 and 2002, and 2014 and 2015 when Jayalalithaa faced disqualification on account of a disproportionate assets case.
By 7 February, 2017, OPS opened a front against Jayalalithaa’s close aide V.K. Sasikala, who was then elected general secretary of the party and chosen to replace him as chief minister. He sat at Jayalalithaa’s memorial and launched a Dharmayudham (war of principles) against Sasikala, who sacked him from the party position. He asserted at the time that he was appointed to the party post by Jayalalithaa and nobody could remove him.
Sasikala was convicted in a separate disproportionate assets case, she declared EPS as the next chief minister before going to prison.
In August 2017, OPS’s faction merged with EPS’s faction, after the latter turned against Sasikala and her nephew T.T.V. Dhinakaran.
On 21 August that year, OPS was sworn in as deputy to CM EPS.
In the party structure, OPS held the position of coordinator, while EPS was joint-coordinator, establishing a dual-leadership in the party.
However, merger of the factions could not prevent infighting and the dual leadership model collapsed in 2022 in the aftermath of AIADMK’s loss to the DMK-led alliance in Assembly polls the previous year.
In the AIADMK general council meeting held in July 2022, EPS was unanimously elected interim general secretary and OPS, then coordinator and treasurer of the party, was sacked from primary membership, accused of collaborating with DMK, and attempting to disrupt party activities.
OPS has since waged a lonely legal battle to reclaim AIADMK leadership, alleging that the election of general secretary was unfair. The Madras High Court and later the Supreme Court rejected his pleas to stay EPS’s election as general secretary. Meanwhile, he also filed a petition with the Election Commission in this regard, in which inquiry is still pending.
Despite being expelled from AIADMK, OPS contested the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Ramanathapuram seat as an Independent with BJP support under the “Jackfruit” symbol. He lost to IUML’s K. Navas Kani.
In February 2025, OPS’s camp expressed willingness to return to AIADMK, which EPS dismissed. After AIADMK and BJP formally revived their alliance for the 2026 Assembly elections, top BJP leaders including Modi and Shah kept an arm’s distance from OPS during their visits to the state.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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