Chennai, March 1 The principal opposition party of Tamil Nadu, the AIADMK is facing a major crisis after party general secretary and Leader of Opposition Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) refused any realignment talks with the expelled party leaders, O. Panneerselvam (OPS), V.K. Shashikala and TTV Dhinakaran.
All three leaders belong to the powerful Thevar community which has a major say in south Tamil Nadu.
It may be recalled that OPS, former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu who was also coordinator of the AIADMK was expelled from the party in September 2023 along with several of his loyalists. Sashikala and Dhinakaran were earlier expelled from the party. OPS had recently laid out an offer of returning back to the party fold without any preconditions but EPS in a public post said that they will not be taken back to the party.
C. Rajeev, political analyst and Director of Centre for Policy and Development Studies, a think tank based out of Chennai while speaking to IANS said, “EPS is taking the party to the wrong route and without the support of the powerful Thevar community, the party will lose heavily in its one time turf, south Tamil Nadu.”
It may be noted that the AIADMK lost heavily in the 2021 Assembly elections and in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections also the party drew a blank. In the recent Erode East by-elections, AIADMK cut a sorry figure in not even contesting the polls.
With the 2026 Assembly elections fast approaching and the ruling DMK already announcing a target of 200 out of the total 234 seats, the AIADMK needs to get its act together to challenge the DMK.
A senior leader of the AIADMK while speaking to IANS said, “There has to be an immediate patch up and alignment with the expelled leaders including OPS, Shashikala and Dhinakaran who have their own pockets of influence. The party cannot afford to lose another election and to regain the winning ways, the party has to plan its act together.”
It may be noted that AIADMK remained in power from 2011 to 2021 and with proper social engineering and a unified move, the party can bounce back again.
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