Journalism of Courage
In the game of thrones that is Tamil Nadu politics, Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) has emerged as the undisputed king of the AIADMK, with a recent Supreme Court order recognising him as the interim general secretary and hence the tallest leader of the party.
Now, the question on everyone’s minds is who will come to the rescue of his rival O Panneerselvam, or OPS? And what happens to rebel leaders like V K Sasikala and nephew T T V Dhinakaran, whom EPS has vowed to not let return to the AIADMK?
For long, the BJP has had the OPS’s back, with the consequent fissures in the AIADMK helping it cement its position in the state. However, the BJP appears to be already acting on the realisation that OPS has lost the power battle; the Erode bypoll contest where it convinced OPS to drop his rival AIADMK candidate being a case in point.
The leader who stepped in as a proxy for AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa several times during her court troubles, OPS clearly feels robbed, and has vowed to continue fighting for the party. But a more practical, and limited, option before him is merging the rump of the AIADMK he has with him, with Dhinakaran’s Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK).
With Sasikala choosing to stay in the background due to her ailing health, and with Dhinakaran pulling his punches on account of the spectre of court cases, both OPS and Dhinakaran could gain from such a merger. Dhinakaran still has a relatively small but loyal following, and OPS would be his natural No. 2.
That is, if OPS is willing to swallow his pride and accept the pre-eminence of Dhinakaran, the all-powerful nephew under Jayalalithaa who often ridiculed OPS, seen as her flunkey, in the past.
Sources said one workable arrangement the two could work out is Dhinakaran contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Theni, which he won in 1999, and OPS’s son O P Raveendranath getting an Assembly ticket in 2026. That OPS’s role would now be more that of a “facilitator” to his son’s rise would be understood as part of this scheme of things.
A source close to both the official and rebel factions of the AIADMK said: “OPS is already 72. He could have the role of a guide or mentor if he merges with Dhinakaran. While Dhinakaran gives him asylum, the beneficiary would be his son.”
Above and beyond these combinations and permutations is the overarching shadow of the BJP. Leaders across AIADMK factions are one when it comes to being part of a BJP alliance in 2024, and are as clear-eyed that this might mean supping with Dhinakaran and OPS. While the AIADMK and AMMK might keep the distance between each other, leaders of both expect the BJP to campaign for them.
What does the BJP gain from all this? The ups and downs since Jayalalithaa’s death in 2006 have taught the party not to take EPS lightly, and to avoid the mistake of dealing with him as they handled OPS and Sasikala-Dhinakaran duo.
If Dhinakaran owes his rise to his Jayalalithaa links, and OPS to being in the right place at the right time with the right, submissive nature, EPS is self-made. Almost unknown in Jayalalithaa’s time, he was the dark horse who manipulated his way to chief minister and went on earn a name in the post as an able administrator, even as he won the party from under the nose of OPS, and ensured he was not seen as subservient to the domineering BJP.
EPS also managed to keep a tight hold on the AIADMK’s abundant resources, which will hold him in good stead in any political crisis.
Now that EPS is recognised as an undisputed AIADMK leader, the BJP will have to rethink its strategy for Tamil Nadu. With many voters in the state turning away from the AIADMK due to the BJP’s influence on it post-Jayalalithaa, one of the first tasks before it would be to modulate its dealings with EPS.
All in all, after a period of flux in recent years, which saw the emergence of new players and equations, Tamil Nadu has returned to an old status quo. If one one side is the AIADMK and E K Palaniswami, on the other is the DMK, whose leader M K Stalin has also grown out of his father’s shadow.
