Late CM Jayalalithaa’s close aide Thanga Tamilselvan gets key responsibility in DMK

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), on Thursday, named a trusted aide of late J Jayalalithaa as secretary of its newly-formed Theni (North) district, a key responsibility as the unit includes the assembly constituency currently represented by deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam.

Thanga Tamilselvan, who was handpicked by Jayalalithaa to represent Andipatti assembly constituency from where she won twice, is a bete noire of Panneerselvam though they once belonged to the AIADMK. In fact, it was Tamilselvan who was the first to raise a rebellion against Panneerselvam after he was sworn-in as Chief Minister in 2016 after Jayalalithaa’s death and demanded that he hand over the chair to V K Sasikala.

Tamilselvan, who joined the DMK in 2019 after a fallout with AIADMK rebel T T V Dhinakaran, has now been tasked to ensure party’s victory in Bodinayakkanur, currently held by OPS, and Periyakulam that have been added to the Theni (North) district.

Appointment of Tamilselvan, who has considerable influence in the Thevar-dominated district as he too hails from the caste, is significant as the DMK makes a concerted effort to eat into the AIADMK’s vote base in Theni district, which has traditionally stood with the ruling party since the days of legendary M G Ramachandran.

DMK’s organizational structure in Theni district is weak, but the party had won the Andipatti, held by both MGR and Jayalalithaa in the past, and Periyakulam, from where OPS had won in 2001 and 2006, during the by-elections held in 2019. By appointing Tamilselvan to take on OPS, the DMK, which hopes to form the government in 2021 after a gap of 10 years, has taken the fight into the senior AIADMK leader’s bastion, who is already feeling sidelined in his own party.

“Tamilselvan was actually waiting for such a responsibility and no doubt it is a challenging task for him as both Bodinayakanur and Periyakulam are traditional AIADMK strongholds. He now faces the task of strengthening the party at the grassroots and deliver in the district where he holds considerable influence,” a senior DMK leader told Deccan Herald.

Though the district has just four assembly constituencies, the DMK has bifurcated the party organisation in Theni district to facilitate better administration and good results in the next assembly elections. Tamilselvan was elected from Andipatti in 2001 assembly elections but resigned within four months to pave the way for Jayalalithaa to contest. When Jayalalithaa represented the seat from 2002 to 2011, Tamilselvan was her “representative” in the constituency.

As a reward for vacating the seat, Tamilselvan was sent to Rajya Sabha in 2002 and he successfully contested 2011 and 2016 assembly elections from Andipatti.

However, he was disqualified as a legislator after he sided with Dhinakaran in 2017 and contested the 2019 elections from Theni Lok Sabha seat on behalf of Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam but lost to OPS’ son O P Raveendranath. He joined the DMK months after losing the polls following differences with Dhinakaran.