Ottakarathevar Panneerselvam, popularly known as OPS (born 14 January 1951)[1] is an Indian politician and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu briefly in December 2016 and previously from 2001 to 2002 and again from 2014 to 2015. As finance minister, he has presented the Tamil Nadu state budget 11 times.[3]
He was the former co-ordinator of the AIADMKpolitical party.[4][5] He was a staunch aide of former chief minister of Tamil Nadu and AIADMK General Secretary J. Jayalalithaa. His first two terms as Chief Minister came when he replaced Jayalalithaa in the role, after she was forced to resign by the courts. His third term began following Jayalalithaa's death and ended 2 months later when Edappadi K. Palaniswami was selected as the Chief Minister by the party. On 4 January 2018, O. Panneerselvam elected as Leader of the House in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.
Personal life
Panneerselvam was born on 14 January 1951 in Periyakulam, Tamil Nadu. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Haji Karutha Rowther Howdia College in Uthamapalayam, Theni district. His close friends Salavuddin from Tenali encouraged him into politics. He also owned some agricultural land. He is married to P. Vijayalakshmi and the couple have three children. He is currently elected from the constituency of Bodinayakkanur, in Theni district.[6] His wife died on 1 September 2021 due to a heart attack[7] and his mother died at the age of 96 on 24 February 2023.
Political career
Early political career
Panneerselvam started his political career periyakulam as a worker of the AIADMK in 1973 after M. G. Ramachandran split from the DMK. He was Chairman of Periyakulam Municipality from 1996 to 2001.
Panneerselvam with Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi in 2017
He was sworn in as the 6th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in September 2001 when the Chief Minister Jayalalithaa was barred from holding office by the Supreme Court of India. During his stint as Chief Minister, he was widely criticised for allegedly heading a puppet government managed by Jayalalithaa. His tenure lasted for six months, from 21 September 2001 to 1 March 2002. In March 2002, he resigned as Chief Minister and Jayalalithaa was sworn in again after the Madras high Court overturned her conviction and she won a by-election from Andipatti assembly constituency. From 2 March 2002 to 13 December 2003, he was the Minister for Public Works, Prohibition and Excise. Subsequently, he was also entrusted with the Revenue department's charge from 13 December 2003 to 15 May 2006.
Leader of the Opposition, 2006
After the party lost the assembly elections in May 2006, Panneerselvam was the leader of the AIADMK legislative party and the Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly for about nine days. In that election, he was elected to be the member of Tamil Nadu legislative assembly from Periyakulam.
In 2011, he contested as an AIADMK candidate from the Bodinayakkanur and won. Again, he became the Minister of Finance in Jayalalithaa's government and held the office from 16 May 2011 to 27 September 2014. He was again entrusted with the responsibility of being Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on 29 September 2014 when Jayalalitha was convicted in the disproportionate assets case. On 22 May 2015, he resigned as Chief Minister and Jayalalithaa was sworn in again after the Karnataka High Court acquitted her in the disproportionate assets case on 11 May 2015.[8][9]
A day after his resignation, on 23 May 2015, he was sworn in as Minister for Finance and Public Works Department in Jayalalithaa's government.
On 6 December 2016, Panneerselvam was elected as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu following the death of incumbent Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.[10] On 11 December, he held his first cabinet meeting as a full-term Chief Minister.
Political crisis in AIADMK, 2017
After his exit from AIADMK, Panneerselvam and his supporters appealed to the election commission to take action against the party General Secretary VKS and chief minister EPS .He also made a point to them that he needs the two leaf party symbol to contest in RK Nagar election. Also, Edappadi K. Palaniswami and supporters appealed against him, but the election commission rejected both the appeals and allotted two different symbols to each party.[11]
In August 2017, the Edappadi K. Palaniswami and O. Panneerselvam factions merged. He was made Deputy Chief Minister and was also given the finance portfolio.
Leadership Tussle with Edappadi K. Palaniswami, 2022
On 14 June 2022, citing the party's troubles in the polls, AIADMK district secretaries and other senior party members spoke out to shun the “dual leadership” system and came out publicly in favor of strong unitary leader to strengthen the organisation.
Palaniswami supporters pushed for the change in the party's leadership structure by staging a political coup against AIADMK Coordinator Panneerselvam, who had become weak within the party. According to many sources, of the AIADMK's 75 district secretaries, hardly 10 supported him. Of the party's 66 MLAs, only five MLAs were reportedly on Panneerselvam side and less than 20 percent of the party's general council members behind him ahead of crucial general council meeting on 23 June 2022, which was expected to elect the single leadership to the party.[12][13][14]
On 30 June 2022, Palaniswami wrote a letter to Panneerselvam asserting the latter ceased to be the party coordinator as the amendments made to the party's bylaw in the 2021 December executive committee meeting were not recognised in the general council meeting held on 23 June.[15][16]
On 11 July 2022, the Party General Council abolished the dual leadership model and empowered Palaniswami to be the Party Supremo.[17]
Expulsion from AIADMK
On 11 July 2022, Panneerselvam was expelled as Party Treasurer and primary member of the party for "anti-party" activities by the AIADMK General Council.[18][19][20]Dindigul Sreenivasan was made Party Treasurer succeeding him.[21] On 17 August, Justice G. Jayachandran of the Madras High Court ruled the expulsion of Panneerselvam and the decisions of the AIADMK General Council as invalid.[22]
On 2 September 2022, a division bench of the High Court upheld the decisions of the AIADMK general council meeting held on 11 July 2022 and set aside the previous court order of the single judge in the appeal case of Palaniswami, thus effectively restoring unitary leadership.[23][24] On 12 September 2022, the Supreme Court dismissed the plea of Panneerselvam challenging the order of Madras High Court to handover the keys to Palaniswami.[25]
On 23 February 2023, the Supreme Court of India upheld the decisions of the AIADMK general council meeting held on 11 July 2022, and dismissed the petition of O. Panneerselvam challenging the previous order of the division bench, thus affirming unitary leadership under Edappadi K Palaniswami.[4][5] On 28 March 2023, The Madras High Court ruled in favor of Edappadi K. Palaniswami and dismissed the petitions of O. Panneerselvam challenging the resolutions passed at the general council meeting held on 11 July 2022. On the same day, AIADMK announced that Edappadi K. Palaniswami was elected as the general secretary through party's general secretary election.[26][27] On 20 April 2023, The Election Commission of India recognized Edappadi K Palaniswami as the AIADMK party general secretary, acknowledging the amendments to the party constitution and changes to list of office-bearers.[28][29] On 19 January 2024, the Supreme Court of India refused to stay the August 2023 order of the division bench of Madras High Court which dismissed the petitions of O. Panneerselvam challenging the 11 July general council resolutions that led to the expulsion of O. Panneerselvam and his supporters from the party, saying the interference at this stage will "lead to huge chaos".[30]
Controversy
A report in The Week in December 2017, alleged that Panneerselvam was on the sand mining baron Sekhar Reddy's payroll.[31] Reddy was arrested by the Income Tax Department in March 2017 on money laundering charges. Five pages of the Reddy's Diary suggest alleged payments made to several AIADMK ministers, MLAs, and many others, amounting to more than ₹48crore. At least five payments in which the word OPS or the name of his secretary Ramesh was written are shown in the contents of the diary.[32][33]
Elections contested
He is one among the politicians who won all the elections he has participated in.
