Tamil Nadu: AIADMK Rift Eases as OPS Offers Unconditional Return

Chennai: Differences among the top brass of the AIADMK simmered down after the potential showdown was averted by the apparently rebellious K A Sengottaiyan, who did not want to take his protest any further, while the ousted general secretary O Panneerselvam agreed to ‘join’ the party without any pre-conditions in the interest of protecting the organization thus opening another Pandora’s Box for general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami.

Sengottaiyan’s boycott of a felicitation by farmers on February 9 to the AIADMK for executing the Athikadavu Avinashi irrigation project led to different leaders speaking about a need for unity in the party, succinctly demanding the bringing in of Panneerselvam, V K Sasikala and T T V Dinakaran for the past few days.

But just as the mild rebellion against Palaniswami – he was the one who completely ruled out the readmission of the expelled top leaders – was quelled, Pannerselvam’s remark opened the same old conversation over ‘unity’ again, particularly in view of the repeated electoral debacles of the AIADMK after the ‘split.’

Ahead of Panneerselvam's offer for an unconditional ‘merger,’ another senior leader R B Udhayakumar came out with a video praising Palaniswami and comparing his leadership qualities with that of party icons M G Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa, which was seen as a ploy to prep up a support base for Palaniswami within the party.

However, Udhayakumar came out with an explanation that the video was made to explain to the people the salient features of the party as they were planning to launch their campaign in Madurai region soon and that it was not to defend Palaniswami from the indirect onslaught of Sengottiyan.

Still, sections of AIADMK leaders resent the successive defeats of the party in various electoral battles and blame it on the split, which in other words mean the expulsion of Panneerselvam, Dinakaran and Sasikala. The narrative set by Sasikala that the AIADMK will win the elections if all those ousted leaders were taken back is now gaining some acceptance among the top leaders, who have started advocating it.

Another section of the AIADMK leaders want the party to revive its alliance with the BJP. On that count, Palaniswami is said to have mellowed down a bit and agreed to join hands with the national party for the 2026 Assembly polls if no other party agrees for a coalition.

Some predict that it could happen because the alternative ally, the Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) of Vijay, that Palaniswami has in mind is now mulling over going it alone in the polls.

But if the leaders keen on ‘unity’ of the AIADMK manage to get more support for their advocacy of joining hands with Panneerselvam, Sasikala and Dinakaran, there will be no alternative left for Palaniswami to agree for that.