NDA's hardwork paying off? After AMMK, Panneerselvam likely to join the fold, accept Palaniswami as CM nominee

Chennai: After T T V Dhinakaran’s AMMK, former chief minister O Panneerselvam is likely to rejoin the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the AIADMK for the 2026 assembly polls. Panneerselvam quit the NDA in July 2025 accusing the BJP of cold-shouldering him to keep senior ally AIADMK in good humour.

Panneerselvam is expected to make the announcement after holding consultations with his supporters here on Thursday. “He has in-principle agreed to join the NDA and accept Edappadi K Palaniswami as the Chief Ministerial talks. The BJP is likely to allot two assembly seats for OPS faction,” a source aware of the developments told DH.

OPS, as he is popularly known as, was in talks with actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam but the BJP convinced him to join the NDA, much like Dhinakaran. OPS’ induction into the NDA is expected to further boost the prospects of the alliance in southern districts where the split of the Mukulathor votes would be prevented.

Panneerselvam and Dhinakaran had taken away a significant chunk of the AIADMK votes with them in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. OPS was also mulling joining the DMK alliance, but his well-wishers said he cannot join the AIADMK’s arch-rival after having served as Chief Minister thrice.

Though OPS do not enjoy much support, the BJP felt that he should be included in the NDA since he had been a well-wisher of the party since J Jayalalithaa’s death in 2016. “We did not want to send an impression that we will dump people once their political prime is over. OPS has been part of the BJP’s scheme of things, and it was only fair that he is accommodated in the alliance,” the source added.

Panneerselvam has also been clearly told that his entry into the alliance was strictly for the 2026 elections and that the BJP will not intervene in the internal affairs of the AIADMK, from which he was expelled in 2022.

Panneerselvam, who once claimed that he agreed to be deputy chief minister in 2017 in Edappadi K Palaniswami’s government only at the insistence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, walked out of the NDA in July, visibly upset with the BJP for leaving him in the lurch to please the AIADMK.

OPS was BJP’s man within the AIADMK when it faced internal turbulence between 2017 and 2022 – he also acknowledged the role of RSS ideologue S Gurumurthy in his rebellion against V K Sasikala, that eventually led to his gradual downfall.

Panneerselvam, who stood by Jayalalithaa as Chief Minister twice when she had to quit due to court cases, was expelled from the AIADMK by Palaniswami in July 2022. Since then, OPS has been in political wilderness, and he contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as an independent from the Ramanathapuram seat – backing to the BJP-led NDA from him and another expelled AIADMK leader T T V Dhinakaran did help the saffron party with the dominant Mukulathor community voting for the BJP.