CHENNAI: The nine-year-old dharma yuddham (righteous war), the term preferred by three-time interim chief minister O Panneerselvam (75) for his battle to regain his position in the AIADMK, came to an end on Friday at Anna Arivalayam, the headquarters of his mothership’s arch-nemesis DMK.
Joining a political party he has opposed throughout his political career spanning more than five decades may not have been an easy decision for Panneerselvam, which was evident from his oscillation and the many rounds of discussions he held with supporters in deciding the next move.
The delay, which seemed never-ending and contributed to the allegation that he was not a decisive leader, pushed many of his supporters to part ways. Some even joined the DMK in the past couple of months.
Last month, former AIADMK MLA Kunnam T Ramachandran, one of Panneerselvam’s supporters, backtracked from his decision to join the DMK at the eleventh hour, stating that he could not betray late CM J Jayalalithaa’s soul. Panneerselvam, in contrast, seems to have made peace with his decision to join the DMK despite owing his entire political life, including the opportunity to be CM, to the late CM.
He served as chairman of Periyakulam municipality (1996–2001) and then entered state-level politics as an MLA. His organisational work in Theni and Periyakulam and loyalty to party leadership helped him secure ministerial portfolios.
In 2001, when the then CM Jayalalithaa was disqualified by the courts, Panneerselvam became the CM for the first time. Between 2014-15, he assumed the office of CM again when Jayalalithaa stepped down following a conviction. During these stints, he displayed his loyalty by refusing to occupy the CM’s chair that Jayalalithaa used as a mark of respect.
After becoming the CM following Jayalalithaa’s demise, Panneerselvam’s political career took a turn, which eventually brought him to the DMK, on the night of February 7, 2017. On being asked to resign so that Jayalalithaa’s aide and then party general secretary V K Sasikala could become the CM, he suddenly visited the memorial of Jayalalithaa and meditated for 40 minutes.
After that, he told the media that he had been compelled to resign as the CM and declared that he was launching a ‘dharma yuddham’ to save the AIADMK. This marked the formal start of the leadership battle within the AIADMK.
Within six months, Panneerselvam joined hands with Edappadi K Palaniswami, the then CM and became the deputy CM. Reacting to the development, V K Divakaran, brother of Sasikala, said, “It is not the end of the problem; indeed, it is the beginning of it.” His words came true later.
Until the AIADMK government lasted, Panneerselvam and Palaniswami remained together despite their strong differences. In July 2022, the differences of opinion led to expulsion of Panneerselvam and his supporters with the party’s general body deciding to return to single leadership under Palaniswami, a decision Panneerselvam challenged legally.
Since then, Panneerselvam headed a faction with the stated objective of bringing back leaders who had “drifted away” from the AIADMK. He often sought the BJP’s support to achieve this objective, which never materialised due to firm refusal from Palaniswami.
