‘Beloved brother’ EPS spurns desperate OPS’ bid to re-enter AIADMK

In a last-ditch bid to save his political future, former deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam (OPS), who has been left to fend for himself, has expressed his desire to join the AIADMK provided his ‘beloved brother’ and party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) and Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam leader TTV Dhinakaran, were prepared for readmitting him.

“I am ready to join the AIADMK. But, are my ‘beloved brother’ EPS and TTV prepared to take me. Both are working for the AIADMK’s victory. We too hold the same view. Having been opposed to each other, they have teamed up now. If they wish, they can accommodate us as well,” he told reporters after a consultation with his supporters near Periyakulam in his native Theni district on Thursday.

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But, swift was the reaction of EPS in categorically rejecting it. “There is no scope for him to re-enter the party. I have made this very clear many times. He has been trying to return to the AIADMK fold for the last four years. Expelling from the party was not my decision. It was decided by the AIADMK general council, attended by over 2500 functionaries in view of his betrayal of the party,” he told the media in Omalur near Salem. The AIADMK is heading the NDA in Tamil Nadu.

What is of significance is that OPS had addressed EPS as ‘Annan’ (elder brother). On his AIADMK Workers Rights Retrieval Committee spearheaded by him, the expelled leader said, “This was launched with the sole purpose of uniting the party and not to contest elections. We have been carrying out the legal battle. In the last Lok Sabha election, I contested as an independent (as part of the NDA) and proved my mettle despite 6 namesake candidates fielded to thwart my chances (he lost to the DMK).”

Though he had walked out of the NDA after his hopes of the BJP helping him in his homecoming had vanished, he is still hoping to be accommodated in the alliance.

With OPS remaining indecisive, most of his trusted supporters have either joined the ruling DMK or the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) of actor Vijay. While former minister R Vaithilingam and P Manoj Pandian, both MLAs have moved to the DMK, JCD Prabhakaran, former MLA, had jumped on the TVK bandwagon. Another MLA, RT Ramachandran, had quit public life. Interestingly, Rajya Sabha MP, R Dharmar, for whom OPS had fought with EPS to secure the RS berth, had returned to the AIADMK fold. Left to fend for himself, OPS is not battling to save himself from political oblivion.