Hours after OPS signals return to AIADMK, EPS shuts door again

Hours after ousted AIADMK leader O. Panneerselvam (OPS) said he was ready to return to the party and sought to know whether its General Secretary and Leader of the Opposition, Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS), was willing to re-induct him, the latter once again shut the doors, asserting there was no possibility of OPS being taken back.

Speaking to reporters at Omalur in his native Salem district after addressing a meeting, EPS said OPS was expelled from the AIADMK by the General Council comprising over 2,500 members and not by him personally. As the decision was taken by the General Council, he said there was no question of going against it or re-inducting OPS, who currently heads the AIADMK Workers Rights Retrieval Committee.

Responding to OPS pointing out that AIADMK had aligned with TTV Dhinakaran of the AMMK in the NDA ahead of the elections despite differences in views, EPS said Dhinakaran—who was earlier ousted from the AIADMK along with his aunt V.K. Sasikala—had returned to the alliance after quitting the NDA earlier, in order to strengthen it.

Slamming the ruling DMK for failing to fulfil its poll promises and citing a deterioration in law and order, EPS said the AIADMK was holding talks with various parties to strengthen the NDA front. He said the AIADMK-led alliance included the BJP, the PMK faction led by Anbumani Ramadoss, the TMC headed by former Union Shipping Minister G.K. Vasan, and other smaller parties.

Once the alliance strategy was finalised, seat-sharing and identification of constituencies would be completed, he said, expressing confidence that the AIADMK-led front would sweep the elections by winning more than 200 of the 234 Assembly seats and return to power by dethroning the DMK.

Earlier in the day, OPS, who has recently toned down his criticism of EPS after being a sharp critic earlier, told reporters at Theni that he was ready to return to the AIADMK and asked whether EPS was willing to readmit him. He also urged Dhinakaran to initiate talks with EPS for his re-entry, pointing out that despite being politically opposed earlier, Dhinakaran and EPS had joined hands.

“I am ready. Is Palaniswami ready? Dhinakaran should initiate steps in this regard,” OPS said, adding that he wanted to return to strengthen and unite the AIADMK ahead of the elections.

OPS said he was undecided on contesting the ensuing polls and reiterated that he stood for a united AIADMK. He dismissed reports that he was considering joining the DMK following the resignation and subsequent defection of his loyalists P. Manoj Pandian and R. Vaithilingam to the ruling party.

When asked whether anyone from the NDA— which he had exited seven months ago—had spoken to him about the possibility of his re-induction into the AIADMK, OPS parried the question, saying, “It’s a top secret.”