OPS playing the Thevar caste card to be strong in South Tamil Nadu

Chennai (IANS) | AIADMK’s ousted coordinator and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam (OPS) has been traveling extensively in South Tamil Nadu. The former chief minister, who belongs to the powerful Thevar community, is trying to play his caste card in the process of consolidating himself in the region.

OPS and his close associates were expelled from AIADMK during the party General Council meeting held in Chennai in July 2022.

Although the OPS does not have the strength or support of a majority of elected legislators, it is trying to coordinate with the leadership of the powerful Thevar community in South Tamil Nadu to garner the support of the community.

The Thevar community has traditionally supported the AIADMK and the party has benefited tremendously from community strongholds in South Tamil Nadu. Expelled former interim general secretary of the party V.K. Sasikala also belongs to the Thevar community and was recently married to her nephew and Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) general secretary T.T.V. Dhinakaran had met OPS.

Sources close to OPS told IANS that the former chief minister is planning to negotiate with the AIADMK leadership ahead of the 2024 general elections. The Thevar community dominates five to six Lok Sabha seats in South Tamil Nadu and the OPS is planning to capitalize on this.

The AIADMK leadership led by Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) has already written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla that the Theni MP was not a part of the AIADMK. It may be mentioned that Theni MP O Raveendranath is the son of O Panneerselvam (OPS). Theni is the only seat that the AIADMK won from Tamil Nadu in the 2019 general elections.

With political parties gearing up for the Lok Sabha polls, Tamil politics is closely watching the OPS’s moves and it remains to be seen whether the OPS and the EPS mediate at the behest of the BJP in Tamil Nadu.

–IANS