Lok Sabha Elections 2024 | Face-off: T T V Dhinakaran Vs Thanga Tamil Selvan

T T V Dhinakaran, AMMK

The first from the V K Sasikala family to plunge into electoral politics, T T V Dhinakaran was fielded by the late J Jayalalithaa from the then Periyakulam Lok Sabha constituency, a stronghold of the AIADMK, in 1999. After winning the seat, Dhinakaran, who is Sasikala’s nephew, emerged as one of the powerful leaders of the AIADMK in southern Tamil Nadu but lost the 2004 polls to the Congress nominee from the same seat. He was immediately sent to the Rajya Sabha by Jayalalithaa, who also made him treasurer of the AIADMK, a powerful post in the party. However, he fell from her favour and was expelled from the party in 2011. He could never get back into the party as long as Jayalalithaa was alive. Two months after her death, Sasikala re-inducted him to the AIADMK in 2017, but the EPS-OPS combo expelled him months later, forcing him to launch his own party, AMMK, which didn’t gain much traction. Now part of the BJP alliance, Dhinakaran is contesting the Lok Sabha polls after two decades from his old seat, rechristened as Theni. 

Thanga Tamilselvan, DMK

Introduced to the AIADMK top brass by T T V Dhinakaran, Thanga Tamilselvan rose to prominence in 2002 when he resigned as MLA of Andipatti constituency to make way for J Jayalalithaa to contest. For the loyalty he displayed to the AIADMK leadership, Tamilselvan hit a jackpot when he was sent to the Rajya Sabha. After she moved to Srirangam from Andipatti in 2011, Jayalalithaa gave the rural seat to Tamilselvan in the 2011 and 2016 elections, which he won comfortably. After Jayalalithaa’s death, he sided with V K Sasikala and T T V Dhinakaran and was one of the 18 MLAs expelled by the Speaker. Tamilselvan contested the 2019 Lok Sabha seat as the candidate of AMMK, led by Dhinakaran, but came third. After the loss, he fell out with Dhinakaran and quit the AMMK to join the DMK, which fielded him from Bodinayakanur assembly seat against the then deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam in 2021. Three years after failing in the assembly polls, Tamilselvan is now taking on Dhinakaran, who played a major role in his political journey.