At Palani Chettipatti, a panchayat town in Theni district, the early morning quiet is broken by drumbeats and the blare of DMK propaganda songs. Scores of men and women gather on the main road, holding up posters of chief minister M K Stalin and his new party associate O Panneerselvam.For Panneerselvam, a three-time chief minister, it was a defiant shift in party allegiance — one that he took after AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami stonewalled his repeated attempts to get back to the party.OPS today steps out to the town centre as DMK’s Bodinayakkanur candidate. He gets out of his car and carefully climbs to a tempo van repurposed as a campaign vehicle. His three-vehicle convoy weaves through a paid yet enthusiastic crowd as he greets them with folded hands. In his pocket, where J Jayallithaa’s photograph once rested, is now a profile of Stalin. The picture on his car dashboard has also flipped.
The convoy passes through the narrow lanes and reaches Vadakku Jayanathapuram Karuppusamy Koil Street where OPS takes to the mic: “Stalin will come back as CM. The Dravidian model governance will be back.” There is clapping and cheering. He looks up at the dangerously hanging electric cables — and promises he would get them reinstalled.“Raise your hands if you will vote for OPS,” says a partyman, holding a public address system. Most people do as directed, and Panneerselvam looks pleased. A local resident, Visithra, 27, lifts her hand and her toddler’s hand too. “TVK has not come campaigning here yet,” she says, adding, “But I am not sure if my family that traditionally voted for AIADMK will vote for DMK.”Panneerselvam recorded easy victories in Bodi three times as AIADMK candidate since 2011. But this election may not be a cakewalk. AIADMK candidate V T Narayanasamy (AIADMK) is a tough opponent. And OPS’s rivals are accusing him of betraying Amma.Conversations in tea shops and street corners reveal a mix of assurance of victory, skepticism, and cautious optimism. Some voters admire OPS’s past heft and see his move to join DMK as driven by compulsions. Others question whether loyalty to Amma can be so easily set aside.The office in his bungalow in Subburaj Nagar in Bodi sports three big, framed pictures of Stalin and Udhayanidhi Stalin. A smaller portrait of Jayalalithaa hangs by the side.Panneerselvam’s dramatic change in allegiance marks not just a personal turning point, but a controversial ideological re-positioning. Long identified with AIADMK’s MGR legacy and Jayalalithaa’s persona, Panneerselvam now aligns with DMK’s Dravidian framework that emphasizes social justice, rationalism, and development. “His switching sides is a result of political necessity,” says Mohammed Ali, a resident on Four Cross Road.Bodinayakkanur has long been an AIADMK bastion. The constituency’s political identity has been shaped by deep-rooted loyalties, particularly among the dominant mukkulathorcommunity, which has historically leaned towards AIADMK. In Tamil Nadu, party affiliations are not merely a matter of strategy; it is intertwined with community and loyalty.For DMK, fielding Panneerselvam in Bodi signals an intent to breach an AIADMK stronghold. His campaign blends personal outreach with narratives of good governance and development under Stalin’s leadership.As Panneerselvam’s convoy plods on, drums continue to beat, songs play on. On OPS’s trail, a fundamental question remains: Can Jayalalithaa’s handpicked man convince his people about his DMK avatar?
