Within the shifting sands of Tamil Nadu politics, the place alliances usually break up and reform all of a sudden, a brand new axis is quietly taking form. Over the previous few weeks, actor Vijay’s political outfit Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) has began bringing into its orbit two of the state’s most cornered politicians, former CM O Punesselvam and Amma Makar Muneetra Kazhagam (Ammk)’s TV Dinakhan.
If the 2 former AIADMK leaders be a part of TVK, it could mark probably the most important consolidation of TVK so far and take it from a fledgling political experiment to a full-fledged political participant within the run-up to the 2026 meeting elections. The talks, confirmed by a number of TVK and AMMK executives, come weeks after TVK welcomed former AIADMK chief KA Sengottaiyan, one of many first large names to hitch the celebration.
Senior officers from each events say negotiations are at a complicated stage. “The route is evident,” a TVK official stated, including that the celebration sees “big political worth” in bringing each leaders into the fold. “They convey not solely expertise but in addition a ready-to-use social infrastructure.”
That base is necessary. Each Panneerselvam and Dhinakaran, popularly generally known as OPS, command affect within the Thevar neighborhood, a strong Different Backward Courses (OBC) group within the southern and delta areas. Their potential to hitch TVK would immediately give Vijay’s celebration organizational depth in districts like Theni, Madurai, Sivaganga, Ramanathapuram and elements of the Cauvery delta.
For each males, the transfer can be a results of fewer choices elsewhere.
Dhinakaran, whose AMMK as soon as decisively cut up the AIADMK’s votes, has discovered himself politically cornered. He dominated out the potential of partnering with the BJP-led NDA so long as Edappadi Okay. Palaniswami stays the face of the chief minister. Panneerselvam, alternatively, has been left with out a celebration construction of his personal as a result of his expulsion from the AIADMK and the gradual withdrawal of assist by the BJP and RSS, which had earlier inspired riot towards former CM Jayalalithaa’s shut aides VK Sasikala, Dhinakaran and Palaniswami.
Individuals aware of the negotiations stated Panneerselvam thought of two choices: DMK and TVK. The previous appears to have closed quietly. “The DMK can’t afford to accommodate them,” stated a senior DMK official, citing seat-sharing calculations and the danger of inner discontent. It’s realized that Dhinakaran had sought not less than 20 seats, however the DMK is unable to satisfy this demand.
On this manner, solely TVK remained for the 2. The celebration, based only a few months in the past, has up to now relied on symbolism and mass attraction slightly than organizational depth. However insiders claimed that’s now altering. “We don’t wish to miss this chance. The participation of Dhinakaran and OPS offers us credibility, expertise and clear enlargement within the south,” stated a TVK government.
Attainable affect on AIADMK, BJP
The implications for the AIADMK-led NDA are important. With the AIADMK management below Palaniswami being adamant about appeasement with its former rival, the alliance dangers dropping the benefits {that a} broad anti-DMK entrance would have introduced. The BJP has tried to push for this and even tried to dealer a rapprochement between Mr. Dhyankaran, Mr. Panneerselvam and the AIADMK, however these efforts had been unsuccessful. “We can’t deal with rebels equally,” stated a senior AIADMK chief.
This put the Bharatiya Janata Occasion in an ungainly place. China retains speaking about an “umbrella alliance,” however its room for maneuver is shrinking. Occasion insiders stated that even when OPS and Dhinakaran are revived, the elections can have restricted worth with out the AIADMK’s cadre base. “They can’t win on their very own they usually know that,” stated a Bharatiya Janata Occasion official.
This vacuum labored to TVK’s benefit. Mr. Sengottaiyan publicly acknowledged OPS’s assembly with Mr. Dhinakaran, describing the assembly as “optimistic” and hinting that readability could be forthcoming quickly. He additionally asserted that regardless of TVK’s efforts to develop its social alliances, TVK’s ideological opposition stays to the Bharatiya Janata Occasion.
This positioning of the celebration as an anti-BJP pressure however distinct from the DMK has enabled the TVK to venture itself as an rising pressure in Tamil Nadu politics. For Vijay, whose political attraction depends closely on symbolism and youth assist, the addition of an skilled chief gives organizational stability and entry to an entrenched vote financial institution, particularly among the many Mukrasore and Thevar communities.
The DMK, on the opposite hand, is carefully monitoring the developments however believes there isn’t a should be alarmed. Though the ruling celebration doesn’t intend to profit immediately from the realignment, it’s acutely conscious that strengthening TVK might complicate electoral calculations within the southern constituency.
For instance, within the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the DMK-led alliance received the state by a landslide not solely due to the celebration’s personal vote share but in addition as a result of the opposition’s votes had been cut up between the AIADMK, the Bharatiya Janata Occasion, and smaller regional factions. An identical sample was seen in a number of southern districts resembling Theni, Ramanathapuram and Virudhunagar, the place splitting of the opposition vote allowed the DMK a cushty victory regardless of the presence of a powerful native nawab and caste-based mobilization.
In 2026, a three-way contest between the DMK-led alliance, the AIADMK-NDA bloc, and the TVK-led entrance, which gathers assist from OPS and TTV’s Thevar base, might as soon as once more tilt the stability in favor of the ruling celebration.
Importantly, the DMK’s personal alliance construction has remained largely intact since 2019, with no companion defecting up to now. In distinction, each the AIADMK and the rising TVK formation threat chopping into the identical anti-DMK voter base, particularly within the south and elements of the Cauvery delta. In such a state of affairs, even a modest consolidation of votes for TVK, regardless of the anti-incumbent undercurrent, might additional fragment the opposition and not directly strengthen the DMK’s place. “This isn’t about who will profit at this time, however how this area can be redrawn,” the DMK chief stated.
