AIADMK row: Is it game, set and match to Palaniswami in the feud with Panneerselvam?

Former chief minister O Panneerselvam was expelled from AIADMK. Read on to find out more about the political developments in Tamil Nadu.

Tamil Nadu is to host the big-ticket 44th Chess Olympiad with 2000 players from 180 countries from 28 July but the political chess season arrived three weeks early in the state capital. In a game that saw rapid political moves on the AIADMK chessboard, former chief minister O Panneerselvam was expelled from the party. The decision came with a warning to the party cadre that anyone found rubbing shoulders with OPS would meet the same fate.Doing a tit-for-tat - at least on paper - Panneerselvam announced that he was expelling newly chosen interim general secretary Edappadi Palaniswami and senior leader KP Munusamy from the party. But that is only bravado for the cameras. It is clear that technically at least, EPS has the support of a majority of the general council and OPS has been both outnumbered and outmanoeuvred.Monday's developments suggest that it is the end of the road for Panneerselvam within the AIADMK. Palaniswami has made it clear that Jayalalithaa's favorite nightwatchman everytime she had to step aside as chief minister of Tamil Nadu, cannot aspire to be the team's captain. Or as the arrangement was so far - joint captaincy with EPS.The AIADMK resolution in fact, blamed the concept of dual leadership as one of the reasons for the party's decline. ``Single leadership is the need of the hour to take on the DMK government effectively. Dual leadership has delayed taking key decisions. To ensure AIADMK capturing power again, single leadership is a must.'' Translated into political lingo, it meant OPS must either accept Palaniswami's leadership or move out. OPS tried hard to stall the general council meeting of the AIADMK by knocking on legal doors but to no avail. By doing so, he had burnt bridges with the EPS camp.It is significant that while the meeting was underway at a function hall in Chennai, OPS chose to stay put at the AIADMK headquarters in Royapettah in a desperate bid to highlight his political umbilical cord to the party. But unlike his photo-op in a forlorn and meditative state at Jayalalithaa's samadhi in February 2017 when he rebelled against VK Sasikala, his Monday act had no takers. The only action was on the lane outside the office where his supporters tore down posters heralding EPS even as stone-pelting and burning of effigies followed. The end result was the sealing of the party office by revenue officials.The question is where does OPS go from here. The tea shop owner-turned-politician knows that EPS has got the better of him in every round of the bout in the political ring, chipping away at his political support. When Paneerselvam's `Dharmayuddham' five years ago ended in a slow death, he had no option but to accept the deputy CM's post in the government headed by EPS. Even though the roles were reversed in the party with EPS as Panneerselvam's deputy, the chief minister used his clout to wean away his rival's support base.

Also watch: AIADMK tussle: EPS and OPS supporters clash in Chennai In the game of one-upmanship that followed, EPS ensured that he was projected as the chief ministerial face of the AIADMK in the 2021 assembly elections. To his credit, he shouldered the entire burden of the party campaign, resulting in the AIADMK winning 66 seats - its best performance in a losing election since its inception in 1972. It was only natural that EPS, and not OPS, would be the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly.Almost everyone who stood by Panneerselvam's side in 2017 has shifted camp. Many of them like Munusamy, tore into him on Monday, labelling him a stooge of the DMK. In the bipolar and daggers drawn politics of Tamil Nadu, to be accused of being hand in glove with the DMK, is the ultimate insult that can be thrown at an AIADMK leader.The only door OPS can afford to knock on is that of the BJP whose top bosses have a soft corner for him. Those close to the BJP had supported Panneerselvam's battle against Sasikala-led AIADMK in 2017 but could not generate traction for him. The number of times OPS could get an audience with the PM led to him being labelled as the unofficial BJP chief in Tamil Nadu.

Also read: Palaniswami scores over Panneerselvam as Madras HC refuses to stall AIADMK meetOn the other hand, EPS has been a tough nut to crack even for the BJP. Despite the party bosses nudging the AIADMK leadership to take back TTV Dhinakaran before the assembly elections and adopt a soft approach towards Sasikala, Palaniswami did not budge. This even while Panneerselvam was open to the idea of the aunt-nephew duo making a comeback. This approach of being politically flexible when it suited him, only earned OPS the tag of a political opportunist whose commitment to integrity and probity in public life is suspect.WHAT ARE THE OPTIONS BEFORE OPS NOW?He can of course try and cobble together a front with Sasikala and Dhinakaran and attempt a takeover of the AIADMK. He would be keen to ensure that his politically ambitious sons, one of who is now an MP, do not suffer because of this setback. He would hope for a helping hand from the BJP to fight his battles.Even as Panneerselvam licks his wounds, one cannot but wonder at the irony. The man who was Amma's chosen one, is out of the party while Palaniswami chosen by Sasikala - also declared persona non grata by the AIADMK - now lords over the party.