CHENNAI: Madras High Court verdict leaves three-time CM O Panneerselvam with only one option — prove his mettle in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Leaders close to OPS said he will continue his legal and political fight and OPS has said he will announce his future plans at Kancheepuram on September 3 when he launches his ‘Puratchi Payanam’. But with slim chances of a legal victory, political analysts say his only hope is to prove his popularity among the electorate in the polls next year.
Political analyst Tharasu Shyam underlines that no political dispute can be resolved through courts. “There are many cases pending in various courts regarding the AIADMK intra-party disputes. Even though OPS continues his civil suit, there may not be any use because in the meantime, many elections in the party would have been over and many changes would have taken place. So, OPS has only one option — fight it in people’s forum.”
Though OPS’s political career has seen many twists and turns, Friday’s verdict has taken it to a new low. The party and its functionaries seem to be strongly behind the party’s general secretary, Edappadi K
Palaniswami.
When contacted, veteran leader Panruti S Ramachandran, advisor to the faction led by OPS, told TNIE: “The verdict is on expected lines and hence it is not a setback. We will continue to fight on the legal and political fronts. We will be organising public meetings all over Tamil Nadu from September 3. We will face the Lok Sabha elections since it is ultimately the people who will decide which faction of the AIADMK is genuine.”
When pointed out that repeatedly, different courts have given verdicts in favour of Palaniswami and upheld his position in the party, Ramachandran said, “As far as I see, only the office-bearers appointed by Palaniswami are with him now whereas the rank and file and the general public are with us. We will demonstrate it through our public meetings and through the process of elections in due course of time.”
Ramachandran also explained “We go by the diktat of AIADMK founder MG Ramachandran that it is for the party members to elect the general secretary. Palaniswami dictates that the general council elect the general secretary. Unfortunately, the courts are accustomed to the parliamentary system in India and side Palaniswami group. But ours is a presidential system that involves democracy, something like the American and Latin American system which, unfortunately, our authorities are unable to comprehend. So, what we face today is a systemic setback and hence we don’t bother about it.”
JCD Prabhakar, an OPS supporter, said, “Please wait and see. OPS will be giving the outline of his future political course in Kancheepuram. He will announce important decisions on that day.”