Former Chief Minister O.Panneerselvam was expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who arrived in Tamil Nadu. He was not given the opportunity to meet or welcome him.
But Prime Minister Modi met AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi Palaniswami at the Trichy airport. Even when Amit Shah had already arrived in Chennai, he did not meet O.Panneerselvam. It seems that the BJP is sidelining him.
This raises the question of what the political future of OPS will be.
With the AIADMK &- BJP alliance formed, the OPS has announced that it will hold a conference in Madurai on September 4. O.Panneerselvam still has support in areas including Theni, Ramanathapuram, Sivaganga. But he has not yet started a separate party to join the alliance. He is still running the AIADMK Urimai Meetpu Committee.
His aim is to work with AIADMK again. Although O.Panneerselvam came down saying that there are no conditions for joining the AIADMK, Edappadi Palaniswami has not listened so far.
Aside from this, O.Panneerselvam, who had been constantly criticizing the DMK government, suddenly changed his path yesterday and issued a statement.
He has issued a statement condemning the central government's action, emphasizing that funds for education should be released to strengthen the Tamil Nadu government's demand.
In this situation, O.Panneerselvam has come to a point where he has to explore other options before him. He can start an independent party and try to get some seats from the AIADMK through the BJP. Similarly, he can continue his political journey by joining the BJP. But yesterday's statement reveals that O.Panneerselvam has decided to leave the BJP, which continues to ignore him. Senior leader and former minister Panrutty Ramachandran, among others in his team, are also advising the same.
What are the other options if he leaves the BJP? He can join alternative Joining DMK will be
O.Panneerselvam's last option.
There is also a discussion going on that O.Panneerselvam's experience, based on the fact that he came from the Dravidian movement and was the Chief Minister three times, will become a great support for Vijay.
Whatever decision he makes, if OPS does not provide an opportunity for its supporters to contest in the upcoming 2026 assembly elections, there is no alternative to the fact that they will soon lean towards Edappadi Palaniswami or take a different political path.
It is certain that O.Panneerselvam will never go into political asceticism. So, what is the answer to all this? Will he announce a new decision at the Madurai conference or will he announce the decision before that and hold the conference?
Let's wait and see!