OPS, who fought in opposition to the DMK all his political profession until now, mentioned he joins the occasion as a cadre with “full happiness”, and that the occasion has finished exemplary work in defending Tamil Nadu and making certain its progress.

“To Thalapathi, who embraced me with affection, I specific my gratitude,” OPS (75) mentioned, referring to CM Stalin (72).

The chief additionally recalled that late DMK supremo M. Karunanidhi had as soon as praised him as “Pachai Tamizhar Panneerselvam” (True Tamilian Panneerselvam) when he earlier assumed workplace as chief minister.

Coaching his weapons at AIADMK basic secretary Edappadi Ok. Palaniswami (EPS), with whom he fought a bitter factional warfare throughout the occasion, OPS mentioned the AIADMK is shifting in direction of destruction beneath EPS.  

EPS is “sidelining” leaders from southern districts of the state, OPS alleged.

Hailing from the Thevar group in southern Tamil Nadu’s Theni district, OPS beforehand represented Periyakulam from 2001 to 2006 within the meeting, and the district’s Bodinayakanur constituency since 2011. 

His DMK transfer comes months after strolling out of the BJP-led NDA in July, 2025, at private stage. Although there have been engagements with the alliance afterwards, they have been futile because of an absence of a inexperienced sign from EPS who wouldn’t permit him to come back again to the AIADMK, resulting in uncertainties relating to his political future. 

Amid this, a number of of his associates had defected to the DMK, together with ex-AIADMK minister R. Vaithilingam, who joined the occasion in January this yr.  

EPS and OPS had been politically estranged for the reason that management tussle between them after the loss of life of former chief minister J. Jayalalithaa in 2016. Through the years, EPS has consolidated management of the occasion.

After the factional divisions widened, the AIADMK basic council abolished the twin management association in 2022 and elevated EPS as interim basic secretary, eradicating OPS and his supporters from the occasion’s main membership. 

Since then, OPS’ makes an attempt to reconcile with EPS and return to a unified AIADMK have repeatedly failed.

பத்திரிகைச் செய்தி

மாண்புமிகு தமிழ்நாடு முதலமைச்சர் கழகத் தலைவர் மு.க.ஸ்டாலின் அவர்கள் முன்னிலையில்

முன்னாள் முதலமைச்சர் ஓ. பன்னீர்செல்வம் அவர்கள் தலைமையில்

மக்களவை முன்னாள் உறுப்பினர் இரவீந்திரநாத், Ex.M.P., உசிலம்பட்டி சட்டமன்ற உறுப்பினர் பி.அய்யப்பன், எம்.எல்.ஏ. மற்றும்… pic.twitter.com/RpqUpOIYff

— DMK (@arivalayam) February 27, 2026

At current, the AIADMK is aligned with the NDA within the state, together with the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), T.T.V. Dhinakaran’s Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK), amongst others. 

A former AIADMK chief, Dhinakaran, floated AMMK after being expelled from the Dravidian occasion in 2018. 

Days in the past, the OPS had clarified that he wouldn’t float his personal occasion, a route adopted by one other shut aide of Jayalalithaa, V.Ok. Sasikala, who was additionally expelled from the AIADMK.

Subburathinam, who was earlier with the OPS camp and now’s a DMK functionary, advised ThePrint that OPS’ newest transfer comes after his ‘all out’ makes an attempt to reunite the AIADMK, which was thwarted by the EPS.

“On the invitation of Amit Shah, he (OPS) went to fulfill him in Delhi. He had defined his place. However even after that, EPS, as an alternative of attempting to make the alliance (NDA) win, tried to maintain the management of the occasion (by not letting OPS come again),” he mentioned, including that the choice relating to OPS’ candidacy within the Meeting polls might be taken quickly.

Meeting elections are due within the state in April-Could. “He (OPS) has been representing the Bodi constituency, our chief Stalin will make the fitting determination,” Subburathinam mentioned.

Speaking to ThePrint, political analyst Sumanth C. Raman mentioned OPS becoming a member of the DMK camp would give a notion increase for the ruling alliance within the run-up to the election, although it might not have any important impression on the bottom.

“The AIADMK was refusing to take him again. The BJP was additionally lukewarm. Then he had nowhere else to go. I imply, he might have gone to the TVK, however he noticed what occurred to Sengottaiyan. He would have gotten involved. However politically for him, it’s the top of the highway. What can he get from DMK? At most, he might be an MLA,” Sumanth mentioned.

Sumanth added that OPS misplaced credibility, going from having 4 MLAs— who stayed loyal to him when EPS consolidated management of the occasion—at one level to dropping that organisational construction.

Former minister Sengottaiyan was expelled from the AIADMK final yr, after he brazenly pushed for unity with different expelled leaders comparable to OPS. 

He joined the actor-politician Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) in November and was appointed the Chief Coordinator of the high-level administrative committee of the occasion, and the organisational secretary to 4 western districts of Coimbatore, Erode, Tiruppur, and the Nilgiris.

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Three-time CM now DMK ‘cadre’

OPS, who was thought-about an in depth aide of former Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa, himself served as chief minister thrice, from September 2001 to March 2002, when Jayalalithaa was convicted within the TANSI land case; from September 2014 to Could 2015 (when she was convicted within the disproportionate belongings case); after which following her demise in December 2016.

In 2017, OPS brazenly went to warfare in opposition to one other Jayalalithaa shut aide, V.Ok. Sasikala, occasion’s former basic secretary was set to switch him as chief minister. Nevertheless, Sasikala was convicted in a disproportionate belongings case and was later expelled from the occasion the identical yr. 

The occasion later noticed extra inner struggles after it adopted a twin management mannequin in 2017, with each EPS and OPS as coordinators. This technique resulted in 2022 after occasion functionaries moved in opposition to OPS, resulting in his expulsion for “anti-party actions”, paving the best way for EPS to take management of the occasion.

Although OPS approached the Madras Excessive Courtroom difficult his expulsion. It dismissed his plea in January 2024.

The chief then aligned with the BJP-led NDA earlier than the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The alliance fielded him as an Impartial candidate, however he misplaced to DMK ally IUML candidate Navas Kani by a margin of over one lakh votes.

He continued being the a part of the alliance for greater than a yr, earlier than exiting it in July 2025.

(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)

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Additionally Learn: OPS made to ‘wait & watch’, why EPS is hesitant as AIADMK-BJP sound ballot bugle in Tamil Nadu

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