AIADMK resolute on not returning, BJP moves on, opens channels with OPS and Dhinakaran

For the two AIADMK rebels, joining hands with the NDA will give them a shot to revive their careers. But what is in it for the BJP?

AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami. (File Photo)

Ending its wait for a positive sign from former ally AIADMK, the BJP has reached out to rebel AIADMK leaders O Panneerselvam and TTV Dhinakaran. The move comes after AIADMK chief and former Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami reiterated on Friday that his party would not reunite with the BJP.

The statement and the BJP’s subsequent decision came as a relief for both Panneerselvam, popularly known as OPS, and Dhinakaran — once central to the AIADMK — who were eagerly waiting for the national party’s call as it provides them with an opportunity to find a way back from the margins of state politics and revive their political careers.

Reminding his party of its decision to leave the BJP-led NDA last September, Palaniswami on Friday said there was no change in its position. The former CM responded to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s comment in an interview to a Tamil daily in February that the BJP’s doors were still open for the AIADMK, saying, “We can’t help if they keep their doors open. I can only speak for my party.”

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After this outright rejection, the BJP leadership decided to end its outreach to the AIADMK, conducted through different individuals, sources said. “The party now firmly aims to strengthen the NDA alliance in Tamil Nadu without the AIADMK. The BJP has reached out to OPS and TTV, acknowledging their interest in joining us,” said an RSS leader, adding that fresh talks had been initiated on Friday afternoon.

For the past several days, OPS has been in his hometown Theni. Sources close to the former Deputy CM said he had become politically active again after it became apparent that the AIADMK would not return to the NDA. “He was disheartened by the BJP’s hesitation in making him an offer while making repeated attempts at negotiating a deal with the AIADMK, now his arch enemy. He spent the last few days at home, often in prayers, visiting temples and seeking solace at the shrine of his family deity,” said the source.

The source said the message from the BJP hinted at an offer for OPS and Dhinakaran to appear on stage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his next Tamil Nadu visit, tentatively scheduled for March 22.

Since his rise in early 2017, the political journey of Dhinakaran, the nephew of former CM Jayalalithaa’s aide V K Sasikala, has been marked by turmoil and setbacks, including challenges from the central agencies. While it was the BJP that destroyed the political prospects of Sasikala’s family, an entry into the NDA offers Dhinakaran an opening to rebuild his political career, especially given that his aunt is hesitant to make a comeback since her release from prison in a disproportionate assets case in 2021. Despite trying to lie low, Sasikala has been hounded by legal challenges from the Centre, including cases, hefty sums as fines, and the seizure of her multi-crore property opposite Jayalalithaa’s Poes Garden residence in Chennai.

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Also read | AIADMK resolute on not returning, BJP moves on, opens channels with OPS and Dhinakaran

While Dhinakaran’s followers expect Sasikala to play an important, if indirect, role in the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP, which has realigned its strategy, sees the AIADMK rebels as crucial NDA members to tap into their local influence. Both leaders are believed to retain some support, especially in Sivaganga, Theni, pockets of Ramanathapuram, and the Thanjavur delta region, even if it has dwindled over the past couple of years.

With the NDA seat-sharing talks about to begin, OPS and Dhinakaran hope to secure a total of four to five seats. Reliable sources within the Sasikala family said Dhinakaran would push to contest from Theni, while OPS’s son P Ravindhranath, the sitting MP from Theni, would look to get the ticket from Ramanathapuram or Sivaganga, leveraging his OBC Thevar community support. OPS and the Sasikala family once dominated Thevar votes in southern Tamil Nadu.

What will AIADMK do?

As for the AIADMK, even if the rumoured alliance with late Captain Vijayakanth’s DMDK comes through, it can’t match the heft of the ruling DMK’s alliance. That makes the decision of the last unaffiliated party in the fray, the S Ramadoss-PMK, crucial. Promised seven seats by the AIADMK, the north Tamil Nadu-based party has not concluded talks on resource sharing. An AIADMK leader said the PMK’s ongoing negotiation was over “unrealistic” demands over “resources” from his party. There are also reports that the PMK has held talks with the BJP, aiming for a Cabinet portfolio in the NDA alliance.

While the PMK is trying to drive home a hard bargain with both the BJP and the AIADMK, it also knows that with a current vote share of 4%, it will struggle to make a mark outside an alliance, having faced setbacks in the 2009, 2011, 2014, and 2016 elections. Its fall from 20 MLAs in 2001 to three in 2011 highlights its decline. The PMK’s performance has worsened since then and it lost all seats in the 2016 Assembly polls, even though it managed a comeback in 2021 with five MLAs but only in alliance with the AIADMK. Its Lok Sabha results mirror this decline, with zero MPs in 2009, one in 2014, and none again five years ago.