AIADMK questions OPS' call for unity, says he aligned with party 'baiter' Annamalai

Chennai, June 6 (IANS) After former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and expelled AIADMK leader O. Panneerselvam wrote an open letter to the AIADMK cadres calling for all the past and present leaders of the party to unite, a senior party functionary questioned the wisdom of the former to give such a call. 

Deputy General Secretary of the AIADMK and former minister K.P. Munusamy questioned OPS, as Panneerselvam is popularly known, for giving such a call after 'aligning' himself with one of the major baiters of the party – Tamil Nadu BJP President K. Annamalai.

Munuswamy said in a statement that Annamalai was the person who spoilt the relationship between the AIADMK and the BJP, causing a split in the NDA in Tamil Nadu leading to electoral drubbing for both the parties in the Lok Sabha polls.

The AIADMK leader also said that OPS contested the Lok Sabha elections against the AIADMK candidate at Ramanathapuram.

"He (OPS) contested against the 'two leaves' symbol of the AIADMK, which the party cadres revere," Munuswamy said.

OPS and T.T.V. Dhinakaran, the nephew of former interim AIADMK General Secretary V.K. Sasikala, contested against AIADMK candidates in the Lok Sabha polls. 

The AIADMK has also lost the support base of the powerful Thevar community in southern Tamil Nadu, which was a traditional vote bank of the party. 

Both Sasikala and OPS belong to the Thevar community.

In the Lok Sabha elections, both the AIADMK and the BJP drew a blank in Tamil Nadu. There has been a considerable drop in the vote share of the AIADMK, while the BJP made some gains.

The AIADMK received 20.48 per cent votes in the latest elections, much lower than the 33.29 per cent votes it got in the 2021 Assembly polls, and the 30.56 per cent vote share the party got in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

According to the AIADMK leadership, had the alliance with the BJP continued, the NDA would have won 35 seats in the elections.

Meanwhile, AIADMK leader and former minister S.P. Velumani claimed that Annamalai played the spoilsport, adding that his arrogance led to the snapping of ties between the two partners leading to losses for both the parties in the Lok Sabha elections. 

He also said that when Tamil Nadu BJP was led by Tamilisai Soundararajan and L. Murugan, there were no issues between the alliance partners.