By Sushil Kutty
Politics has taken a turn in Tamil Nadu as parties, fronts and alliances get on the front foot for the 2026 assembly elections except that the DMK-led alliance might not end up with an encore as it faces the AIADMK-led alliance which also includes the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The DMK front is weighed down by anti-incumbency is just is working for a second straight term. The fact is, Chief Minister MK Stalin is flogging a dead horse and seldom does the Tamil electorate repeat the same party for a second straight term. The DMK isn’t all that mighty an army as it was the last time it went to the polls.
Chances are the INDI-Alliance, of which the ruling DMK is a powerful component, might have to look for a miracle 2026 victory. The DMK-led alliance, which also includes the Congress, is fighting with its back to the wall and optimism is lacking.
Meanwhile, politics continues unabated with permutations and combinations changing every few days. Like, for example, former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Paneerselvam jumping ship, dumping the NDA and queuing up behind Chief Minister MK Stalin and the DMK front.
Before that he needed a reason, which came his way when Prime Minister Narendra Modi refused to meet him at the Tuticorin airport, which is what Paneerselvam was angling for even as he sought to appease the AIADMK general-secretary Edappadi Palaniswami.
Note that Prime Minister Narendra Modi isn’t all that popular or powerful as far as the Tamil people are concerned. If any central BJP leader is acceptable to Tamil Nadu parties, it is Union Home Minister Amit Shah. But ‘OPS’ couldn’t have expected Amit Shah to cotton up to him if the Prime Minister wasn’t playing ball.
“Out of the question” would have been the caption accompanying the photo. Paneerselvam knew his game was up when Modi gave him the royal prime ministerial snub. But ‘OPS’ has a spine unlike most BJP leaders who kowtow to Modi from the floor up, just like Jayalalithaa commanded kowtows when she was around.
‘OPS’ probably had an alternative lined up. Turned out it was a shoo to the opposite DMK camp. So what if the AIADMK alliance didn’t want him, Chief Minister MK Stalin’s DMK would value his camaraderie and welcome him to the DMK fold, which is what happened
‘OPS’ met Stalin twice within a couple of hours, once on the morning walk corridor and then in the more formal setting of what looked like Chief Minister MK Stalin’s residence.
The second meeting took place in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin with Stalin and Udhayanidhi in dapper trouser-shirt and ‘OPS’ in traditional Tamil wear, worn over sneakers.
Prime Minister Modi wouldn’t know if he did right or wrong by denying ‘OPS’ a meeting. For lots of Tamils, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is still a novice in Tamil Nadu politics though PM Modi has been using various venues in Tamil Nadu to launch the BJP in the state, which is still to bear fruit.
For a couple of years, Modi relied on ex-cop K Annamalai in a big way to make a break into the Dravidian fortress. But somewhere along the way, Annamalai chose to stand his ground “against AIADMK” and the Modi-Shah combine smelled the coffee.
Annamalai found himself shifted to the side-line as AIADMK general-secretary Edappadi Palaniswami became Modi’s muse for the Chief Minister’s post in a post-DMK scenario. Annamalai was cajoled to let sleeping dogs lie but the BJP still hasn’t won ‘EPS’ fully around and make it an “alliance”.
The BJP top brass wants the BJP to be part of an AIADMK-led NDA alliance but Edappadi Palaniswami isn’t overly enthused. O Paneerselvam’s “exit” from the NDA could be yet another sacrifice at Edappadi’s altar, just like Annamalai had to settle for second-fiddle.
OPS realized he wouldn’t even be third or fourth fiddle. Prime Minister Modi and major-domo Amit Shah give the feeling they’re damn sure the DMK will bite dust in the 2026 assembly elections and it will be an AIADMK-led “alliance” that will come to power.
That is, if actor Vijay Joseph’s TVK, Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam, proves his legion of fans right and, like MGR and Jayalalithaa, return Tamil Nadu to “cinematic rule”. Vijay is being compared to MGR and there is not even a squeak out of anybody, least of all the cinematic family of Stalin and Udhayanidhi.
M K Stalin will be lucky if he can retain a respectable number of seats in 2026 polls. And it won’t be because Prime Minister Modi snubbed ‘OPS’. Paneerselvam knows his limitations and his action to ditch the AIADMK is not being looked at favourably by even his own loyal followers, apart from the array of speculations his desertion has triggered.
“Anything can happen,” OPS told media outside Stalin’s house. “There are no permanent friends or enemies in politics.” ‘OPS’ said he called on Stalin to condole the death of Stalin’s elder brother M K Muthu and because Stalin wasn’t in the best of health.
“Thank you for inquiring about my health with love,” Stalin tweeted. The OPS-Stalin first meeting took place outside the Theosophical Society in Chennai and an OPS advisor told media the reason for the “OPS exit” was “known to everyone”. That being said, OPS’s gamble looks set to fail and the DMK is showing every sign of staring at a sure-shot 2026 defeat. As for actor Vijay, he cannot be “another MGR” as MGR was a Malayali which Vijay isn’t. (IPA Service)
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