AIADMK is united, won't take back O Panneerselvam or Sasikala: Palaniswami

Palaniswami said expelled leaders are not even primary members of the party and that their functioning as separate entities should not be construed as the party being split into different factions.

Chennai: Closing the doors on likes of O Panneerselvam and V K Sasikala, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Thursday said there was no possibility of the expelled leaders being taken back into the party, while asserting that the outfit was 'united' and there is no 'split' within its ranks.

Palaniswami, during a media interaction on the occasion of the AIADMK’s 53rd Foundation Day, said expelled leaders are not even primary members of the party and that their functioning as separate entities should not be construed as the party being split into different factions.

The former chief minister also termed as “outright lie” reports that six senior leaders of the AIADMK met him recently to consider re-inducting Panneerselvam, Sasikala, and her nephew, T T V Dhinakaran into the party.

The remarks are quite significant as the expelled leaders upped their ante against Palaniswami by exerting pressure on him to take them back in the “larger interests” of AIADMK’s electoral performances. It is a fact that the rebels – Panneerselvam and Dhinakaran – pushed the AIADMK to the third slot in Ramanathapuram and Theni Lok Sabha constituencies earlier this year.

Political analysts have been warning that the AIADMK was losing the support of Mukulathors, an umbrella term for Maravars, Kallars, and Agamudaiyars, to the rebel camp in southern districts. The party did suffer a serious setback due to rebels performing well in several constituencies, with the Mukulathors indirectly going towards the BJP to whom OPS and Dhinakaran owe allegiance to, albeit for now.

“Don’t say that the AIADMK is split. AIADMK is one unit, and you can see all senior leaders standing with me here,” Palaniswami said, when asked whether there was any possibility of an announcement on reunification of the party.

“The people you are talking about were expelled from the AIADMK. Expulsion has been happening ever since the party came into being in 1972. There is no way they (expelled leaders) can come back. Their expulsion stays…please don’t ever say the party is split. We are the AIADMK, and we run the party,” he said, pointing to senior leaders.

With this, Palaniswami has once again made his stand clear that he was not willing to accommodate any of the expelled leaders into the party, a development that could pose a serious challenge to his authority within the AIADMK.

His comments also assume significance as it comes just months after the party not just faced a total rout in the Lok Sabha elections but lost the second position to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in 12 constituencies. Additionally, the party candidates forfeited deposit amounts in seven Parliament segments.

In her reaction, Sasikala said the AIADMK has to make some course corrections to win the 2026 polls. “The party is not in a good position. Some remedial measures are needed,” she said.

Senior journalist R Bhagwan Singh said the migration of cadres from the AIADMK will continue by pointing to the party’s performance in the 2024 polls. “He cannot open the door for Sasikala. The moment he opens the door for her (Sasikala), he has to shut the door on himself. He has to hold the door tight. But the point is who is inside the room,” Singh added.