BJP comes closer to new allies in Tamil Nadu: Former AIADMK leaders Dhinakaran and OPS

INDICATING fresh political alignments in Tamil Nadu ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) leader T T V Dhinakaran has hinted at a possible alliance with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance as well as expelled AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam.

Speaking to reporters after paying his tributes to former Tamil Nadu chief minister and AIADMK founder M G Ramachandran (MGR) on his 107th birth anniversary, Dhinakaran said there was nothing wrong in joining hands with the BJP, though a decision had not been taken yet. Dhinakaran said that while he had criticised the Modi government earlier, it was because of its schemes affecting farmers and people of Tamil Nadu, but that the BJP had “altered its stand”.

On Panneerselvam or OPS, Dhinakaran said they had decided to work together and were taking steps towards that.

A former MP and AIADMK strongman, Dhinakaran was expelled from the AIADMK in 2017 along with his aunt V K Sasikala — who was a close aide of the late CM J Jayalalithaa — by the current AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) for anti-party activities.

In December 2017, Dhinakaran had indicated his continuing clout by winning Chennai’s Radhakrishnan Nagar Assembly constituency bypoll by a record margin. The seat had fallen vacant after Jayalalithaa’s demise.

A year later, Dhinakaran had floated his own party AMMK, a breakaway faction of the AIADMK.

In its debut election in 2019, the party had entered into a poll pact with the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), but failed to win any seat. In the 2021 Assembly elections as well, Dhinakaran continued his association with the SDPI, this time with the addition of Captain Vijayakanth’s Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) and