‘O. Panneerselvam has no place in the party!’ – Did Edappadi Palaniswami hint this indirectly?

With only a few months left for the 2026 assembly elections, the AIADMK's executive committee and general body meeting held in Vanagaram received extra attention. O.P.S had set a deadline of December 15 for rejoining the AIADMK. It was anticipated that this general body meeting might discuss this issue. However, AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi Palaniswami made it very clear that there is no opportunity to bring back dissatisfied members, including O.P.S, into the party. Two weeks ago, O.P.S had a consultation with the administrators of the AIADMK Volunteer Rights Restoration Committee. As a result of the consultation, Vaithiyalingam,

He announced, "There is only time until December 15 to reunite those who have separated in the AIADMK. Otherwise, we will start a new party." At the same time, former minister Sengottaiyan also joined the faction. Last week, O.P.S. had traveled to Delhi and met Amit Shah. Even while the general body meeting was ongoing today, he gave an interview saying, "Everyone wants the AIADMK to unite." Because of this, it was expected that something would be discussed directly or indirectly about the AIADMK's unity in the general body meeting. However,

From Edappadi's speech filled with statistics, it was clear that O.P.S is still not ready to give a green signal. "Even an ordinary worker in AIADMK can become Chief Minister; but" – what does Edappadi Palaniswami mean? At the beginning of his speech, Edappadi listed the various troubles AIADMK has faced since 2016. At that time, he said, "M.G.R and Jayalalithaa have no heirs. We are their heirs. How much trouble have they caused us? In 2017, when we decided to prove the majority in the assembly, some who were with us joined the opposition and conspired to create problems. Just think about it."

He said, "We came beyond all that." In the 2017 general meeting, O.P.S. engaged in a dharmayuddham, and some MLAs stood by his side, which was indirectly referred to without naming Edappadi. This can be seen as Edappadi's covert response to the bitterness O.P.S. caused in bringing people into the party. It can also be understood as a message from Edappadi to the administrators that those who intended to overthrow the government cannot be brought into the party. Similarly, in another instance, he said, "In the 2021 assembly election, we lost by a margin of only 200,000 votes across 43 constituencies combined. We know whose conspiracy caused that." This too can be interpreted in two ways.

Earlier, S.P. Velumani had spoken about S.I.R. At that time, he said that the DMK would create disturbances, so the ADMK leaders should act cautiously. It is possible that Edappadi has also referred to this. Similarly, in the 2021 elections, Dinakaran had caused significant damage to ADMK in the southern districts. Keeping that in mind, Edappadi might have spoken accordingly. Velumani had said, "The alliance you expect will be formed by your elder brother Edappadi." Many ADMK leaders who spoke on stage echoed this line. Considering the parties that were previously in the NDA, like PMK and DMDK, they might have spoken in this way. However,

No one has spoken about Vijay, who keeps saying "There are only two contestants, one is DMK and the other is Thavega." As soon as the election announcement was made, Edappadi said they would form a strong alliance. So, it seems that during the campaign, Edappadi does not want to remove the Pillaiyar Swastika he put up yet. AIADMK: "I never said I would start a separate party" – O. Panneerselvam