Jayalalitha loyalist and ex-CM Panneerselvam joins DMK ahead of Tamil Nadu polls. Will it impact results?

In a big political move, three-time chief minister and expelled AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam, 75, joined the ruling DMK on Friday ahead of assembly elections in the state at a time when political discourse is getting shriller and incisive. OPS, as he is commonly referred to, is likely to get a DMK ticket from the Bodinayakkanur constituency in Theni, which he had won in 2021. OPS joined the DMK in the presence of Chief Minister M K Stalin at Anna Arivalayam, the party’s headquarters.

Panneerselvam’s joining the DMK will boost Stalin’s image ahead of the state assembly elections. However, DMK is also facing some criticism over inducting OPS, a true-blue AIADMK man.

OPS joined DMK after AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami welcomed AMMK chief TTV Dhinakaran, another expelled AIADMK leader, into the NDA but did not re-induct him.

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How will Panneerselvam’s induction help DMK?

The benefit of inducting OPS will be minimal for DMK since he does not have a base beyond his home district of Theni, though a section of the dominant Mukulathors—the community to which V K Sasikala and T T V Dhinakaran belong—might support him. But if Sasikala fields candidates in southern Tamil Nadu and the DMK uses OPS to woo the Mukulathors, the AIADMK might suffer a setback because of the split in community votes.

The Mukulathors had been AIADMK supporters but started distancing themselves from the party since 2021, and the party candidates came third in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Besides, the induction will help the DMK project EPS as a “non-accommodative” leader, as even senior leaders quit AIADMK under his leadership.

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“OPS has joined his parent party to safeguard the Dravidian movement's ideology. The 2026 Assembly election is a democratic battle between Tamil Nadu and the fascist BJP. It is with this realisation that various democratic forces are joining the DMK alliance,” Stalin said in a social media post, welcoming OPS into the party.

Panneerselvam said, “Stalin is giving good governance to people, and people are watching it. EPS is keen on making sure no leaders from the South become strong. To save Dravidian Movement, policy of the Dravidian, it’s the DMK which is working.”

Panneerselvam was widely regarded as the BJP’s man in the AIADMK after Jayalalithaa’s death.

Panneerselvam, a Jayalalithaa loyalist, was chosen as stand-in twice by her

Late CM Jayalalithaa chose Panneerselvam as the stand-in chief minister twice—in 2001 and 2014. After Jayalalithaa’s death, he again became CM in 2016 but lost the post within a couple of months.

He later served as deputy CM and joint coordinator of AIADMK, but his differences with Palaniswami grew, and he was expelled from the party in 2022.

In 2024, Panneerselvam contested as an independent from Ramanathapuram and came second, securing 3.42 lakh votes.

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In fact, Stalin had accused OPS and EPS of giving the BJP a “back-door entry” into Tamil Nadu during the 2016-2021 AIADMK rule and continues to allege that the AIADMK regime was responsible for all problems that the state faces today.

Social media users dug out old posts of Stalin accusing OPS of corruption and surrendering Tamil Nadu’s rights to the BJP, inviting criticism over whether the DMK has become a “regional washing machine.”

The DMK had also filed corruption cases against OPS in the past and many social media users asked what will happen to those cases now.