In a seismic trade in Tamil Nadu politics, former Leader Minister and expelled AIADMK heavyweight O Panneerselvam (OPS) in any case joined the DMK nowadays morning. This comes simply weeks earlier than the 2026 Meeting Elections and brings an finish to the long-standing competition between the three-time Leader Minister and the birthday celebration based by way of MG Ramachandran.
The transition used to be made respectable at Anna Arivalayam, the DMK headquarters, the place Leader Minister MK Stalin welcomed OPS into the fold. The veteran chief arrived on the birthday celebration place of work in a while after his son, Raveendran, used to be noticed on the premises. The defection follows years of interior turmoil for OPS, who used to be ousted from the AIADMK in 2022 after a sour management fight with Edappadi Ok Palaniswami (EPS).
Previous this week, a defiant OPS advised journalists he would hand over politics completely if someone may turn out he had made a mistake all through his tenure. He were in particular essential of new adjustments to the AIADMK’s by-laws, arguing that EPS had dismantled the democratic framework established by way of MGR. On the other hand, with the courts and the Election Fee in large part siding with the EPS faction, and his fresh efforts at achieving out to the BJP now not yielding a united AIADMK, it sounds as if that OPS has determined to aspect together with his former warring parties with a view to make certain his survival in politics.
Together with his access into the DMK, the already crowded situation of the 2026 elections has were given a brand new twist. The ruling DMK coalition, campaigning at the “Dravidian Style 2.0,” is now set to stand a divided opposition. Whilst the AIADMK and BJP try to to find their footing, the coming of actor-turned-politician Vijay and his Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) has already threatened to show the normal two-way contest right into a triangular struggle.
For OPS, the transfer is a homecoming of varieties to the “father or mother birthday celebration” of the Dravidian motion, regardless that it continues to be noticed how the DMK rank and report will settle with a person who used to be, for many years, the face in their number one opposition.
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