Dealing a severe blow to the O Panneerselvam (OPS) camp of expelled AIADMK rebels, which is struggling to find political relevance, former deputy chief minister’s steadfast loyalist PH Manoj Pandian, hailing from a family associated with the AIADMK, has joined the ruling DMK on Tuesday.
He visited the DMK headquarters ‘Anna Arivalayam’ in Chennai in the morning and was inducted into the party in the presence of DMK president and Chief Minister MK Stalin, senior ministers and party functionaries. Stalin presented a shawl and welcomed him into the DMK.
Later, talking to reporters Pandian questioned the rationale behind the AIADMK under Edappadi K Palaniswami returning to the NDA fold and charged the AIADMK leadership with mortgaging the party with the BJP and playing second fiddle to the saffron parivaar. “Stalin is a leader committed to protecting the rights of the State and Tamils,” he said.
“The purpose for which the AIADMK was launched by MGR (MG Ramachandran) had been thrown to the winds. Instead of returning to the AIADMK, which is now a puppet of the BJP, it is prudent to accept the leadership of Stalin and be a loyal worker in the DMK,” he added.
His desertion of OPS came more than a month after OPS, heading the AIADMK Workers Rights Retrieval Committee, walked out of the NDA, after patiently hoping that the BJP national leadership would facilitate his re-entry into the AIADMK ahead of the 2026 Assembly election. OPS had unsuccessfully contested the LS poll as part of the NDA.
Representing the Alangulam constituency in the Southern Tirunelveli district, he had been a pillar of support for OPS and was expelled along with him from the AIADMK. A practicing lawyer at Madras High Court, he was the legal face of the splinter group and had been appearing in many cases OPS had filed against the expulsions and challenging EPS’ election as AIADMK general secretary.
Hailing from the mercantile Nadar community, he is son of late AIADMK strongman PH Pandian, who had served as Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Assembly from 1985-1989, he defeated DMK minister Poongothai Aladi Aruna in the 2021 election. His mother Cynthia Pandian was a former Vice-Chancellor of the Manonmaniam Sundaranar University.
Reacting to his entry into the DMK, former Minister and AIADMK leader Vaigai Selvan described it as a desperate move by a person seeking greener pastures. “Having enjoyed the benefits of being the AIADMK, now to appease their new masters in DMK, he has been belittling EPS, under whose stewardship the party is gaining a newfound strength,” he said.