Tamil Nadu: O Panneerselvam, 2 other top leaders out of key AIADMK poll panels

Last February: O Panneerselvam carries Jayalalithaa’s portrait as he steps into the assembly to present his budget as finance minister. PTI photo

Three of the AIADMK’s most influential leaders — former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and ministers Natham Viswanathan (power) and P Palaniappan (higher education) — will not be part of either seat sharing talks or crucial electoral committee meetings.

They are not in the list of leaders named in the committee or deputed for seat-sharing talks, a senior leader confirmed.

And in an indication that Panneerselvam, popularly known as OPS, has fallen out of favour after having enjoyed the image of being the party’s most powerful leader after party chief J Jayalalithaa, party sources said he is likely to face many more setbacks in the coming weeks.

His absence from seat-sharing talks has stunned his loyalists, who include a number of senior state and local level leaders in Theni — the constituency he represents — and at least 15 district secretaries whom he had handpicked.

Viswanathan has suffered another setback after the party leadership reportedly removed three of his loyalists from crucial party posts in Dindigul on Monday. Sources said these three include a general council member and a leader who played a key role in the party’s IT wing.

The removal of OPS and the two others came a week after the hashtag “#OPS4CM” had trended on Twitter. It was something AIADMK supporters attributed to the rival DMK’s IT wing, allegedly to create a rift between OPS and Jayalalithaa.

An electoral meeting held last week with crucial allies caught attention because of the absence of the three leaders, especially when two other ministers attended it in their place — S P Velumani and P Thangamani, who had showered lavish praise on “Amma” in a speech before international industrialists during the Global Investors’ Meet.

A senior leader cited different reasons for the sidelining of the three. OPS was apparently targeted because of the growing clout of three members of his family — his son Ravindranath Kumar, brother O Raja who is also the Periyakulam municipal chairman, and son-in-law Kasi Rajan.

About Viswanathan, the leader said the party is probing his and his son’s role in several land deals. The father and son, who had been seen weeping after Jaya had been convicted in the disproportionate assets case, were also being seen as exercising greater powers in the government and the party since 2013, when Jayalalithaa had reduced her trips outside Chennai. Palaniappan, meanwhile, is known to be close to the OPS camp.

While party sources predict further action against the three, what has already taken place is a restructure of the leadership in Theni region, OPS’s home turf, where his relatives and loyalists were so far in control.

“Besides the charges of nepotism, the failure of OPS in handling the Chennai flooding — he was the minister handling the crucial department that blamed the delayed opening of Chembarambakkam dam gates — also reflected poorly on him,” the AIADMK leader said.

“Viswanathan is facing allegations in power and land deals signed by his ministry, including deals he signed when Jayalalithaa was in prison, while Palaniappan faces allegations over his ministry’s role in delaying the appointment of nearly 1,000 college lecturers and appointing vice chancellors flouting UGC norms, decisions of which many had been slammed by the Madras High Court,” the leader added.

The leader said some loyalists of the three are also facing charges of collecting money from cadres offering MLA seats.

In the past, the trio led by OPS have themselves been seen as having been behind actions against some of Jaya’s staunch loyalists and their removal from ministerial or party posts. These include N R Sivapathy, minister who was sacked reportedly for failing to consult OPS in the appointment of some 60 school teachers, and V Senthil Balaji, who had tonsured his head and carried fire-pots for Jayalalithaa and enjoyed direct access to her — bypassing the OPS camp.

AIADMK spokesperson C R Sarswathy refused to comment on the reported charges against OPS and other two ministers. “If they have been removed from certain responsibilities, there may be a reason for that, they may be given other responsibilities, or Amma will decide,” she said. About the revamp of the leadership in OPS’s and Viswanathan’s home turfs (Theni and Dindigul), she said these were routine party exercises ahead of the elections.