Ottakarathevar Panneerselvam, popularly known as OPS (born 14 January 1951) is an Indian politician and former

Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu The chief minister of Tamil Nadu is the head of government, chief executive of the Indian Federated state, state of Tamil Nadu. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the Governor (India), governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de ...

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 Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

state budget 11 times. He was the former co-ordinator of the

AIADMK The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; AIADMK, also abbreviated as ADMK), also shortened to Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, is an Indian regional political party with great influence in the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

. He was a staunch loyalist of former chief minister of Tamil Nadu and AIADMK General Secretary

J. Jayalalithaa Jayaram Jayalalithaa (24 February 1948 – 5 December 2016), popularly known as Amma, was an Indian actress, politician, and philanthropist who served as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for more than fourteen years between 1991 and 2016. She ...

. 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 was elected as Leader of the House in the

Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It has a strength of 234 members, all of whom are democratically elected using the first-past-the-post system. The presiding office ...

Personal life

Panneerselvam was born on 14 January 1951 in

Periyakulam Periyakulam () is a major town and a municipality in Theni district, in the Madurai Region, South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. As of 2011, the town had a population of 42,976. Periyakulam is the northern gateway of the district. Etymology ...

, Tamil Nadu. He belongs to the politically-influential

Thevar The Mukkulathor people, who are also collectively known as Thevar, are a community or group of communities native to the central and southern districts of Tamil Nadu, India. They comprise the Agamudayar, Kallar, and Maravar communities that s ...

community, which is found throughout Central and Southern Tamil Nadu. obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Haji Karutha Rowther Howdia College in

Uthamapalayam Uthamapalayam is a town and a taluka headquarters in Theni district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories ...

Theni district Theni District is one of the 38 districts of Tamil Nadu state in India. Surrounded by hills, the district is located to the west of Madurai district. The town of Theni is the district headquarters. The district is divided into two natural div ...

. 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 Bodinayakanur, a town in the state of Tamil Nadu, India, was fondly dubbed the 'Kashmir of the South,' by India's first PM Jawaharlal Nehru. Despite its modest size, the town has played a significant role in Tamil Nadu's political arena, having ...

, in Theni district. His wife died on 1 September 2021 due to a heart attack and his mother died at the age of 96 on 24 February 2023.

Political career

Early political career

Panneerselvam started his political career in Periyakulam as a worker of the AIADMK in 1973 after

M. G. Ramachandran Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 – 24 December 1987), popularly known by his initialism M.G.R. and as Makkal Thilagam/Puratchi Thalaivar, was an Indian actor, politician, and philanthropist who served as the chief minister of ...

split from the DMK. He was Chairman of Periyakulam Municipality from 1996 to 2001.

First term as Chief Minister, 2001-2002

He was sworn in as the 6th

in September 2001 when the Chief Minister Jayalalithaa was barred from holding office by the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India is the supreme judiciary of India, judicial authority and the supreme court, highest court of the Republic of India. It is the final Appellate court, court of appeal for all civil and criminal cases in India. It also ...

. During his stint as Chief Minister, he was widely criticised for allegedly heading a

puppet government A puppet state, puppet régime, puppet government or dummy government is a State (polity), state that is ''de jure'' independent but ''de facto'' completely dependent upon an outside Power (international relations), power and subject to its ord ...

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 A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

from

Andipatti Andipatti or Aundipatty is a municipal body in the Theni district in of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. It is on the bank of Vaigai River with rich flora and fauna species. It is a valley surrounded by mountains and there is a theory say ...

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 The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

in the

for about nine days. In that election, he was elected to be the member of Tamil Nadu legislative assembly from

Second term as Chief Minister, 2014-2015

In 2011, he contested as an AIADMK candidate from the

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. A day after his resignation, on 23 May 2015, he was sworn in as Minister for Finance and

Public Works Department This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

in Jayalalithaa's government.

Third term as Chief Minister, 2016

During hospitalization of Jayalalithaa , he was given with her portfolios from 13 October 2016, thus making him as caretaker chief minister. On 6 December 2016, Panneerselvam was elected as the

following the death of incumbent Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. 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 An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

.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. 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. In

2019 Indian general election General elections were held in India in seven phases from 11 April to 19 May 2019 to elect the members of the 17th Lok Sabha. Votes were counted and the result was declared on 23 May. Around 912 million people were eligible to vote, and vote ...

, his son

P. Ravindhranath Panneerselvam Ravindhranath Kumar (born 3 February 1980), popularly known as P. Ravindhranath or OPR, is an Indian politician who was elected to the Lok Sabha following the 2019 Indian general election representing Theni Lok Sabha constituency ...

was only AIADMK candidate who won a seat, in

Theni Lok Sabha constituency Theni Lok Sabha constituency () is one of the 39 Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituencies in Tamil Nadu, a state in southern India. Assembly segments Theni Lok Sabha constituency comprises the following legislative assembly segm ...

Tussle in AIADMK over Chief Ministerial candidate, 2020

The Tussle started in October 2020 when Minister for Milk and Dairy development K. T. Rajenthra Bhalaji tweeted that the party should go for elections, with EPS as the CM candidate. A day before Balaji’s tweet, Cooperative Minister Sellur K. Raju said, “MLAs will elect the chief minister” when AIADMK wins the 2021 elections. Finally, then DCM Panneerselvam made the announcement that Palaniswami would be the chief ministerial candidate of the AIADMK on 20 October 2020 morning at a much awaited meeting at the AIADMK office in Chennai.

Tussle for LoP post, 2021

On 10 May 2021, the newly elected AIADMK MLAs convened to choose the new

, an important post equivalent to a cabinet minister. The meeting was inconclusive, with both Panneerselvam and Palaniswami staking claims to the post, while their supporters hurled charges against each other. This included a prolonged quarrel between the two sections of the party outside the party's head office, causing unrest. Supporters of Palaniswami believed that he should be the Leader of the Opposition due to the party's good performance in the election in western Tamil Nadu, the region he hails from; whereas, Panneerselvam's supporters felt that the party fared poorly in other regions of the state due to Palaniswami's wrong policies during his Chief Ministerial tenure. Eventually, Palaniswami was elected as the Leader of the Opposition.

Leadership Tussle with Edappadi 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. 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. On 11 July 2022, the Party General Council abolished the dual leadership model and empowered Palaniswami to be the ''Party Supremo''.

Expulsion from AIADMK

On 11 July 2022, Panneerselvam was expelled as Party

Treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

and primary member of the party for "anti-party" activities by the

General Council. Dindigul Sreenivasan was made Party Treasurer succeeding him. On 17 August, Justice G. Jayachandran of the

Madras High Court The High Court of Judicature at Madras is a High Courts of India, High Court located in Chennai, India. It has appellate jurisdiction over the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry. It is one of ...

ruled the expulsion of Panneerselvam and the decisions of the AIADMK General Council as invalid. On 2 September 2022, a

division bench A Division Bench is a term in judicial system in India in which a case is heard and judged by at least two judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an ...

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. On 12 September 2022, the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

dismissed the plea of Panneerselvam challenging the order of Madras High Court to handover the keys to Palaniswami. On 23 February 2023, the

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

, thus affirming unitary leadership under

Edappadi K Palaniswami Edappadi Karuppa Palaniswami (born 12 May 1954) is an Indian politician who is the current leader of opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. He served as the 7th chief minister of Tamil Nadu, from 2017 to 2021. He has been the Genera ...

. On 28 March 2023, The

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. On 20 April 2023, The

Election Commission of India The Election Commission of India (ECI) is a constitutional body established by Constitution of India, the Constitution of the Republic of India empowered to conduct free and fair elections in the Republic of India. It is headed by a Chief Ele ...

recognized

as the AIADMK party general secretary, acknowledging the amendments to the party constitution and changes to list of office-bearers. On 19 January 2024, the

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".

Controversy

A report in ''

The Week ''The Week'' is a weekly news magazine with editions in the United Kingdom and United States. The British publication was founded in 1995 and the American edition in 2001. An Australian edition was published from 2008 to 2012. A children's edi ...

'' in December 2017, alleged that Panneerselvam was on the

sand mining Sand mining is the extraction of sand, mainly through an open pit (or sand pit) but sometimes mined from beaches and inland dunes or dredged from ocean and river beds. Sand is often used in manufacturing, for example as an abrasive or in conc ...

baron Sekhar Reddy's payroll. Reddy was arrested by the

Income Tax Department The Income Tax Department (also referred to as IT Department; abbreviated as ITD) is a government agency undertaking direct tax collection of the government of the Republic of India. It functions under the Department of Revenue of the Mini ...

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

crore Crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes the quantity ten million (107) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. In many international contexts, the decimal quantity is formatted as 10,000,000, but when used in the context of the India ...

. 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.

Elections contested and positions held

Lok Sabha elections

Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly elections

Positions in Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Panneerselvam, O. Chief ministers of Tamil Nadu 1951 births Living people State cabinet ministers of Tamil Nadu Chief ministers from All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Leaders of the opposition in Tamil Nadu Deputy chief ministers of Tamil Nadu Indian Tamil politicians Tamil Nadu MLAs 2011–2016 Tamil Nadu MLAs 2016–2021 Tamil Nadu MLAs 2021–2026