Unease within NDA as BJP's Tamil Nadu unit faces the heat over OPS exit

Chennai: Though O Panneerselvam’s political stock has dwindled significantly in the past few years, his surprise decision to sever his eight-year-long ties with the BJP has caused unease within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Tamil Nadu. 

While the BJP has said that OPS should have been a “little patient” before announcing his decision in haste, alliance leaders like T T V Dhinakaran are pushing the saffron party to bring the former chief minister back into the NDA fold.

A public spat between Panneerselvam and Tamil Nadu BJP chief Nainar Nagendran over the former not getting an audience with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to the state on July 26 and 27 has only made the situation murkier. 

Being overlooked by the BJP during the PM’s visit is said to be the immediate provocation for OPS, who has felt humiliated and insulted by the ruling party at the Centre, leading him to walk out of the alliance.

OPS has accused Nagendran of not attending his calls and ignoring text messages seeking an appointment to meet the Prime Minister. He has also released call records and screenshots of messages to Nagendran, asking him to be transparent. OPS went public after Nagendran claimed to be unaware of the former chief minister’s interest in meeting Modi and said that he would try to arrange an appointment.

As allegations flew thick and fast that Nagendran deliberately avoided OPS so as not to annoy AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, former TN BJP chief Tamilisai Soundararajan said OPS should have exercised restraint and remained patient for a while before taking such a decision.

However, Dhinakaran, leader of Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam, said the BJP should work towards bringing OPS back into the NDA to ensure that anti-DMK votes do not get split. On Monday, OPS, who came under attack for his meeting with M K Stalin -- which was interpreted as his way of keeping options open -- clarified that no politics were discussed and that he merely went to check on the Chief Minister’s health. “I will neither join the DMK nor I will ally with the party,” he added.

BJP sympathisers took to X and other social media platforms to question why OPS, an avid supporter of Modi, was allowed to leave the NDA. Some even commented that the BJP under Nagendran seems to be moving forward with the goal of dismantling the NDA built by his predecessor.

“OPS doesn’t have a huge support base, and that’s known to everyone. But he was one of the first to support the BJP and join the NDA after AIADMK walked out of the alliance in 2023. All OPS wanted was some respect, especially after the AIADMK and BJP revived ties. But unfortunately, he felt insulted and left,” a senior BJP leader told DH.

The leader added that although OPS does not bring much to the table, his presence in the NDA made the Mukulathors -- a dominant community to which he and Dhinakaran belong -- vote for the alliance. The latest development is “poor optics” for the BJP alliance. 

“It sends out a message that BJP and AIADMK cannot keep their alliance intact. Potential allies, PMK has been hit by internal turbulence while DMDK is keeping its cards close to the chest—are also keeping the BJP on its toes. Optics-wise, such developments won’t help us,” another leader added.