Chances for Panneerselvam’s return to AIADMK, revival of AIADMK-BJP alliance remote

O. Panneerselvam. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

The chances for the return of leaders including former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam to the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and the revival of ties between the Dravidian major and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) appear to be remote. 

This conclusion can be inferred from the AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami firmly reiterating his position against any reconciliation with his former colleagues; the ousted coordinator, Mr. Panneerselvam’s retort and the disapproval by the party’s IT wing secretary,  V.V.R. Raj Satyen, of the “message” behind Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister K. Pawan Kalyan’s greetings on the party formation day.

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On Thursday, Mr Palaniswami was emphatic in making the observation that “those who have been expelled [from the party] remain expelled.” The next day came the angry reaction of Mr. Panneerselvam, who is now heading the ADMK Workers’ Rights Retrieval Committee, that the AIADMK “has gone to the dogs with the advent of betrayal.”

He went on to point out that during the Lok Sabha election, the party had forfeited deposits in seven constituencies with its vote share falling to 20%. “If the [present] situation continues, not only will the party not be able to capture power, regardless of the passage of years,  but also its vote share will keep on sliding further,” Mr. Pannerselvam observed. The statements by the two warring leaders have put a lid on all the talk that there will soon be rapprochement. 

Meanwhile, Mr Satyen’s reply on his social media handle to the Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister’s greetings has made it clear that the AIADMK would not like to re-establish its ties with the BJP. 

It is evident that the Dravidian major has not considered the message favourably, given the fact that in the neighbouring State, both his Janasena Party is an ally of the national party and the two parties are constituents of the coalition government headed by the Telugu Desam. 

Mr. Satyen stated that his party had parted ways with the BJP for “firm ideological and political reasons.”  Though he only reflected what Mr Palaniswami had been saying for over a year,  it was also a fact that the former Local Administration Minister and AIADMK’s face in Coimbatore,  S. P. Velumani, immediately after the Lok Sabha results were out in early June, went on record, saying that if the alliance had remained intact, it could have “easily won” 35-40 seats in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.  Mr. Velumani had also blamed  BJP State President K. Annamalai for the break up.

The AIADMK hopes that there is a growing anti-incumbency” against the DMK government and that voters would naturally prefer it in the 2026 Assembly polls. At the same time, it is not oblivious to the need for a strong alliance to take on the ruling DMK and its allies, which have been sticking together for over seven years.

The principal Opposition party also knows that its vote share in the contested seats this time was  22.6% as against 35.2 % five years ago and 40.48% in the 2021 Assembly poll.  In the previous two elections, the AIADMK had electoral truck with the BJP and Pattali Makkal Katchi, apart from its partner for the 2024 poll, the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam.