Abandoned by BJP and doors closed by AIADMK, OPS walks out of NDA

With his continuation in the NDA in Tamil Nadu increasingly becoming untenable, former Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister and expelled AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam (OPS) on Thursday walked out of the saffron bandwagon, deciding to chalk out a future political course along with his supporters.

The decision to exit the NDA, of which the OPS-led AIADMK Workers Rights Retrieval Committee was a constituent in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, was taken at a meeting of his supporters chaired by him in Chennai in the afternoon. Those who attended the meeting included former minister and AIADMK veteran Panruti Ramachandran.

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Denied an audience with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his recent two-day visit to the state, his exit from the NDA was only expected. He had sought an appointment with the PM, stating that it would be a ‘singular honour’. However, his request was overlooked while AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) and his colleagues were given the opportunity to receive Modi at the Trichy airport.

Now, abandoned by the BJP and AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) firmly shutting the doors on taking him on board, OPS had started directing his ire at the BJP in the last couple of days. First, it was a hard-hitting statement against the Union government for withholding funds for the state under the SSA programme on the pretext of not implementing the New Education Policy. Then came his spirited defence of Jayalalithaa withdrawing support to the then Vajpayee government in 1999, which was described by former AIADMK minister Kadambur Raju as a ‘historic blunder’.

Responding to Raju’s remark, OPS said in a statement, “What Jayalalithaa had done was a revolutionary act. By snapping ties with the BJP, she returned to power in the 2001 Assembly election. Further, she single-handedly ensured the AIADMK won 37 out of 39 Lok Sabha seats in 2014 with the slogan ‘Lady or Modi’.” Interestingly, OPS has fallen back on Jayalalithaa to justify his decision to leave the NDA. But the fact remains that he had been banking on the BJP’s support to get rehabilitated in the AIADMK after he rebelled against Jayalalithaa’s confidante VK Sasikala following his unceremonious ouster as Chief Minister after Jayalalithaa’s demise in 2016.

In the last LS election, when the AIADMK quit the BJP-led NDA and contested the polls, OPS stood with the saffron party. But things changed after the AIADMK rejoined the NDA. BJP stalwart and Union Home Minister Amit Shah made it clear that the BJP will not interfere in the internal affairs of the AIADMK, leaving matters to EPS. As such, he found himself being relegated.

Significantly, OPS had a chance meeting with Chief Minister and DMK president MK Stalin during the latter’s morning walk. The conversation between the two lasted about 15 minutes, giving rise to speculations. Further, this development comes amid reports of OPS teaming up with actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK).

On the future course of action, Panruti Ramachandran said OPS would extensively tour the state. Any decision on alliance would be taken at an appropriate time, he added.