Chennai: Once basking in the glory and calling the shots in the AIADMK, TTV Dhinakaran and O Panneerselvam (OPS) are now craving for political relevance. Six years after they parted company, when the latter launched his 'Dharma Yutham' on being forced to resign as Chief Minister in February 2017, the duo joined hands to take on AIADMK general secretary and former Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS). Apparently, the duo, belonging to the dominant OBC Thevar community, are playing the caste card, attempting to position themselves as its voice with an eye on the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
It is ironic that both have shared the dais for the first time after 2017, that, too, at Theni, the home turf of OPS. It was the political compulsion to corner EPS that has brought them together and they have chosen the April 2017 sensational Kodanad heist cum murder case. The palatial mansion at the estate in Ooty was the summer resort of Jayalalithaa and the daring burglary and the murder of the guard Om Bahadur when EPS was the Chief Minister had left everyone in the state in disbelief. Interestingly, OPS too had joined the government and was the Deputy Chief Minister after merging his breakaway faction in August that year. But, he had kept a studied silence on the heist till now.
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The Thevar community and its sub-sects--Maravar, Kallar, and Agamudaiyar--are concentrated in a few southern districts as well as in the Cauvery delta region. Significantly, it has primarily been a captive vote bank of the AIADMK till the party supremo Jayalalithaa was there. While Dhinakaran is from the Kallar community, OPS hails from the Maravar community.
Putting the past behind the back ahead of the Theni rally, Dhinakaran said, “We are not in alliance with the BJP. We are preparing to face the Lok Sabha elections, along with OPS.” Though his outfit is a tiny one, it had tilted the results in at least 10 Lok Sabha constituencies last time. The AMMK, seen as a Thevar outfit, has organisational muscle in the areas where the community is numerically dominant, unlike the OPS faction.
Though OPS was banking on the BJP for his political survival, the saffron party abandoning him without an invite for the NDA meeting in Delhi where EPS was seated next to Prime Minister Narendra Modi had left him with little option but to position himself as the face of the community in tandem with Dhinakaran.
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Moreover, BJP sources maintained that EPS is in no mood to accommodate either Dhinakaran or OPS. Explaining the rationale for inviting only EPS for the NDA meeting, BJP state president Annamalai had said, “This followed the Election Commission of India recognising EPS as the general secretary of the AIADMK.” This had only infuriated team OPS further, feeling let down by the BJP.
Analysts are not hopeful of OPS and Dhinakaran resurrecting their political fortunes through this opportunistic alliance. “Neither the Thevar community is behind them nor do others have any hope of the duo changing the political course. Their claim to represent the community is also suspect and there are many leaders from the community in the DMK itself like TR Baalu, Thangam Thennarasu, and others. Lacking the charisma of a Jayalaithaa, their belief in a substantial following among the Thevars is suspect. If at all, they can split some of the anti-DMK votes. While Dhinakaran has long lost the momentum he received with his pyrrhic victory in the 2017 RK Nagar by-poll as an independent, OPS has been left in the dark with EPS taking the reins of the AIADMK,” explains senior journalist Babu Jayakumar. Analysts are unanimous on whether the duo's claim to represent the community will bait enough for the BJP to accommodate them in one way or the other for the Lok Sabha elections.
