Former chief minister and ousted AIADMK leader O. Panneerselvam aka OPS is all set to contest from Ramanathapuram Lok Sabha constituency. A sitting MLA from the Bodinayakkanur assembly constituency in Theni district, OPS will be fighting his fist parliament election.
With all his legal options to stake claim of the AIADMK and being stripped off even his deputy leader post in the state assembly, OPS launched the Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhaga Rights Retrieval Organisation. Former ministers Vaithilingam and Manoj Pandian are the only two AIADMK leaders who stand by OPS in his fight to retrieve the AIADMK. The former chief minster who had aligned with the BJP has now been forced to seek an identity of his own in this Lok Sabha election.
A trusted lieutenant and a known loyalist of late former chief minister J. Jayalalithaa, Panneerselvam is contesting the general elections as an independent with the support of BJP-NDA. He will not contest in his most prestigious ‘two leaves’ symbol.
Ramanathapuram Lok Sabha constituency in south Tamil Nadu comprises of six assembly segments—Paramakudi (reserved), Thiruvadanai, Ramanathapuram, Mudukulathur, Aranthangi and Thiruchuli. With 16.06 lakh voters, the constituency has a significant number of Thevar and minority voters.
Known as Mukkulathors, an umbrella term used to refer the three dominant backward communities in the South—Kallar, Maravar and Agamudaiyars—the Thevars are the majority community in this region. The Thevars in the south and central Tamil Nadu—from Madurai to Virudhunagar—traditionally support the DMK and the AIADMK. While the majority of the OBC Thevar vote bank was always with the AIADMK till Jayalalithaa was alive, it saw a shift in 2019 and 2021 after Edappadi K. Palanisamy (EPS) took over the AIADMK. In 2021, when EPS decided to give 10.5 per cent internal reservation to the Vanniyars, a majority community in North Tamil Nadu, the Thevars chose to shun the AIADMK and vote for the DMK.
Apart from the Thevar vote bank, Ramanathapuram has a significant number of Muslim votes, which is considered a deciding factor in this region. The DMK-led alliance has fielded Nawaz Kani of the Indian Union Muslim League. Kani is the sitting MP from Ramanathapuram. A section of the minorities also support the AIADMK after it walked out the BJP alliance and aligned with Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), the political wing of the Popular Front of India (PFI).
OPS, who hails from the Maravar caste in the Thevar community, may have an edge in assembly segments like Thiruvadanai and Mudukulathur. However for OPS, who had always been identified with ‘two leaves’ symbol, contesting as an independent and taking the symbol forward is a huge challenge. Though OPS is used to electoral politics and facing elections, Ramanathapuram may not be like his home constituency Periyakulam or Bodinayakanur.
OPS, sources say, was forced to choose Ramanathapuram as his former mentor and friend T.T.V. Dhinakaran decided to contest from his hometown Theni. OPS’s son O.P. Ravindranath Kumar was the lone MP to win in 2019 from Theni on an AIADMK ticket. However, he chose to stay away from this election as the entire family has been ostracised from the AIADMK.
But this election has turned into a huge challenge for OPS who will have to fight four other O. Panneerselvams in Ramanathapuram. While the original ‘OPS’ is contesting as an independent, the other four OPS are also contesting as independents. “This is the handiwork of EPS,” says OPS’s son V.P. Jayapradeep.
Panneerselvam is a common name in the Theni-Ramanathapuram region. But the name of the former chief minister, son of Ottakara Thevar, remained unique all these years. Now four other Panneerselvams with surnames starting with “O”—O. Panneerselvam, son of Ochappan of Mekilaarpuram in Madurai district, O. Panneerselvam, son of Oyyaram of Valantharavai in Ramanathapuram district, O. Panneerselvam, son of Ocha Thevar of Vagaikulam in Madurai district, and O. Panneerselvam, son of Oyya Thevar of Solai Alagupuram—have filed nominations from Ramanathapuram.
“I have filed my nomination. I am contesting the MP election. I don’t know anything else other than this,” said one of the four OPS as he walked out after filing nomination.
The original OPS has requested that he be allotted bucket or grapes or jackfruit, while the four other independents have also asked for the same. “Symbol doesn’t matter. Candidate is more important than the symbol,” OPS told reporters after filing his nomination.
OPS, sources say, will put his heart and soul to garner votes, only to prove that the Thevar community is politically relevant in the south, in the backdrop of EPS isolating the Thevar community leaders like OPS from the party. With OPS’s candidature, sources say, the BJP wants to show that they are politically significant in a state like Tamil Nadu and relegate the EPS-led AIADMK to the third position.
However it remains to be seen if the original OPS gains the majority votes to prove his mettle and continue his fight to stake claims for the AIADMK.
