After nearly five decades in the AIADMK, its expelled coordinator and former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam’s shift to the ruling DMK underscores a political journey that left him isolated by circumstances of his own making.When he joined the DMK in the presence of Chief Minister M.K.Stalin, Mr Panneerselvam was accompanied by only one legislator P. Ayyappan. After his expulsion from the AIADMK in July 2022, Mr Panneerselvam had the support of two prominent leaders - R. Vaithilingam and P.H. Manoj Pandian. They joined the DMK recently.His style of functioning, especially from July 2022, became synonymous with oscillation, as he kept on moving his goalpost. Unlike in 2017 when he had a strong case to carry on his battle - “dharmayudham” – against former interim general secretary V.K. Sasikala, he did not have such an issue at hand this time.In June 2022, differences arose between him and then AIADMK joint coordinator Edappadi K. Palaniswami over the selection of a second candidate for the Rajya Sabha election. He had his way by getting one of his associates, R. Dharmar, nominated for the seat. Mr Dharmar, about a month ago, switched his allegiance to Mr Palaniswami.Later, it all boiled down to the binary - “single leadership” versus “dual leadership.” Since Mr Panneerselvam and Mr Palaniswami along with their followers came together in mid-2017, the party had, for five years, followed a system of “dual leadership,” under which the two leaders were made coordinator and co-coordinator with the authorisation to choose candidates for any election and sign collectively on the relevant documents.It was around the time that K. Annamalai, as BJP state president, was hogging limelight and presenting himself as an effective Opposition leader, making the situation uncomfortable for the two leaders. Mr Panneerselvam’s camp, apart from holding quite a few public meetings in Chennai and a rally in Tiruchi in April 2023, was virtually inactive on the ground. It spent a great deal of energy and resources in pursuing legal battles against Mr Palaniswami in courts and before the Election Commission of India. Invariably, everywhere, Mr Palaniswami emerged victorious. At one stage, the Madras High Court restrained Mr Panneerselvam from using the AIADMK’s flag, election symbol and letterhead.He then joined hands with the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) general secretary, T.T. V. Dhinakaran, and even held a demonstration together in Theni to highlight the “tardy progress” of the probe into the Kodanad Estate dacoity-cum-murder case of 2017. Somehow, Mr Panneerselvam could not establish again a similar rapport publicly with Ms Sasikala, though both said they would meet each other at an “appropriate time.”Mr Panneerselvam became persona non grata for Mr Palaniswami. He banked on the belief that the BJP would stand by him always. This worked out well until the 2024 Lok Sabha election when the BJP cobbled up a coalition to take on the DMK and AIADMK fronts. But once the BJP revived its ties with the AIADMK last April, Mr Panneerselvam’s position became shaky. He was ignored by the national party during the visits of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to the State last year. About three months ago, Mr Panneerselvam met Mr Shah, who, according to the former, wondered how a divided AIADMK could win in the Assembly election.When he replaced, a few months ago, the term “Committee” with “Kazhagam” in the title of his erstwhile group “All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Workers’ Rights Retrieval”, he had insisted to this correspondent that the change was just “for the sake of it” as he had no intention to start a party of his own. There was a talk that Mr Panneerselvam might join hands with actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam. He did not make any effort to dismiss the talk.The way he ran his politics left many of his supporters frustrated with each one opting to chalk out his or her path. All this only facilitated his marginalisation among followers of the AIADMK’s icons, M.G. Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa. No wonder, he had to turn to the DMK, the traditional adversary of his parent party, for political survival.Published - February 27, 2026 10:52 pm IST