The deposed coordinator of the AIADMK, O. Panneerselvam, who came from nowhere to become Chief Minister in September 2001 and survived several political challenges since then, now stands isolated in the party.
As the electoral political history of the State has been unkind to those who moved out of the two principal parties - the DMK and the AIADMK - in the last 50-odd years, Mr. Panneerselvam appears to be facing a bleak future as he has limited options. As put by one of his associates, Mr. Panneerselvam may have to tread the path being followed by the sidelined former interim general secretary, V.K. Sasikala, and AMMK general secretary T.T.V. Dhinakaran, who was eased out of the party five years ago in the wake of the camps of Edappadi K. Palaniswami and Mr. Panneerselvam coming together. It remains to be seen whether Mr. Panneerselvam would join hands with Ms. Sasikala and Mr. Dhinakaran. As he is also known to be an open admirer of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it would be interesting to see how he is going to approach the BJP in future, and the latter's response to his overtures.
In fact, the element of Mr. Panneerselvam’s “soft corner” for Ms. Sasikala was highlighted by former Minister Dindigul C. Sreenivasan at the general council meeting on Monday as one of the reasons for the action taken against him. Mr. Sreenivasan recalled that in March, at the farm house of Mr. Panneerselvam, Theni district secretary S.P.M. Syed Khan got a motion passed, calling for the readmission of Ms. Sasikala, which went against the party’s position on the issue.
