Losing battles, OPS pins hope on EC to prolong the war

Beset with successive setbacks, O Panneerselvam (OPS), the man once trusted by late Jayalalithaa to keep the CM gaddi warm for her, is now pinning his hopes on the Election Commission of India in his fight with his rival and former CM Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS), writes ETV Bharat's M C Rajan.

Chennai:Fighting for his political survival, ousted AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam (OPS), is losing one battle after the other in the courts and outside. The space for waging further battles is increasingly shrinking and his last resort appears to be the Election Commission (EC) which had to take a decision on legitimacy to the party general council which had expelled him from the party along with his trusted lieutenants. Also, it has the power to earmark the party's election symbol in the event of a contest.

The general council, held on July 11, had chosen Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) as the party's interim general secretary while disposing of the dual leadership – diarchy - in which both OPS and EPS had equal powers, including allotting the party symbol to candidates contesting in elections. The attempts of OPS to secure a stay on the general council proved futile and he was pulled up by Madras High Court for 'attempting to achieve through the courts what he could not achieve' within the party fora.

On the same day, supporters of OPS stormed the AIADMK headquarters and went on a rampage which resulted in the sealing of the premises. When both the factions knocked at the judiciary claiming ownership, Madras High Court directed that the keys be given to EPS. In this case too the High Court came down heavily on OPS. It was a major victory for EPS and a huge setback for OPS.

Then came another blow. The AIADMK legislature party stripped him of the post of Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly. Of the 65 MLAs, OPS has the support of only two besides himself. The other two, former minister R Vaithilingam and Manoj Pandian, have been expelled along with OPS by the general council. In a shrewd move, EPS has elevated former minister RB Udayakumar as the Dy leader of Opposition.

According to analysts, this is intended to offset the image that the EPS faction is out to marginalise the dominant OBC Thevar community, considered to be the support base of the party in Southern Tamil Nadu. Like OPS, Udayakumar is also a Maravar – a subsect of Thevars, and this will help dispel the view the party under EPS is dominated by the dominant OBC Goundar community of Western Tamil Nadu. EPS hails from the gounder community.

While OPS will continue the fight on the legal front, his only hope is in the EC. “So far, OPS has suffered setbacks. But, his fight in the EC assumes significance. With both factions claiming to be the real AIADMK, it is the EC which would have to accord recognition and allot the symbol. The EC could also freeze the symbol, the iconic “Two Leaves”, leaving both sides high and dry. Such a situation would leave both sides to prove their strength in the electoral arena,” explains analyst Raveendran Duraisamy.

“Going by past decisions of the EC, the poll panel could allot the symbol to EPS as it had done in the case of the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh when Akhilesh Yadav took on his father Mulayam Singh. But, in the case of the AIADMK freezing the symbol would leave the cadre distraught,” he reasons. There is another twist to the unfolding story. In this fraternal war, the role of the BJP leadership will be keenly watched.

Being an ally of the AIADMK, the saffron party cannot afford to let the issue linger for so long. For, without the 'two leaves' symbol, it cannot hope to capitalise on an alliance with either of the factions in the 2024 LS polls. Which way the saffron party swings might decide the fate of both.