Ottakarathevar Panneerselvam, popularly known as OPS (born 14 January 1951) is an Indian politician who served as the .Coordinator of AIADMK 6th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 6 December 2016 to 15 February 2017 and as the 2nd

Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu The Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu is the deputy to the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, who is the head of the government of Tamil Nadu. The deputy chief minister is the Council of Ministers of Tamil Nadu's second-highest ranking member. ...

from 21 August 2017 to 6 May 2021. As a finance minister, he has presented the

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is 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 India ...

State Budget 11 times. He was the former co-ordinator of the

AIADMK The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; AIADMK) is an Indian Regionalism (politics), regional political party with great influence in the Federated state, state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry (union territory) ...

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

and was a staunch aide of former chief minister of Tamil Nadu and AIADMK General Secretary

J. Jayalalithaa Jayaram Jayalalithaa (24 February 1948 – 5 December 2016) was an Indian politician and actress who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for more than fourteen years over six terms between 1991 and 2016. From 9 February 1989 to 5 December 2 ...

. 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 two months later,

Edappadi K. Palaniswami Edappadi K. Palaniswami (born 12 May 1954), also known as E.P.S., is an Indian politician and the 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 th ...

was selected as the Chief Minister. He was sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on 21 August 2017. He held portfolios of Finance, Housing, Rural Housing, Housing Development, Slum Clearance Board and Accommodation Control, Town Planning, Urban Development, and

Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA), formerly known as the Madras Metropolitan Development Authority (MMDA), is the nodal planning agency of Chennai in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The CMDA administers the Chennai Metropol ...

in the

cabinet. On 4 January 2018, O. Panneerselvam elected as Leader of the House in

Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It has a strength of 234 members of whom are democratically elected using the First-past-the-post voting, First-past-the-post system. The pres ...

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 obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Haji Karutha Rowther Howdia College in Uthamapalayam, Theni district. 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 (also shortened to Bodi) is a Town and a municipality in Theni district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. Etymology In early days, it was called by the name Thenkasiyampathi (Tamil: தென்காசியம்பதி). ...

, in Theni district. His wife died on 1 September 2021 due to a heart attack.

Political career

Early political career

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

M. G. Ramachandran Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 24 December 1987), also popularly known as M.G.R., was an Indian politician, actor, philanthropist, and filmmaker who served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 until his death in 1987 ...

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

Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu The chief minister of Tamil Nadu is the chief executive of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests with th ...

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

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme judicial authority of India and is the highest court of the Republic of India under the constitution. It is the most senior constitutional court, has the final decision in all legal matters ...

. 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 that is ''de jure'' independent but ''de facto'' completely dependent upon an outside power and subject to its orders.Compare: Puppet states have nominal sovere ...

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, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

from

Andipatti Andipatti or Aundipatty is a municipal body in Theni district in Madurai Region 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 ...

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 May 15, 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 largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

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 year 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, 2016-2017

On 6 December 2016, Panneerselvam was elected as the

following the death of incumbent Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. On 10 December he held his first cabinet meeting as a full-term Chief Minister.. He tended his resignation as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on 6 February 2017 to the governor, who accepted and appointed him as the caretaker Chief Minister of the state to avoid a leadership vacuum, until further measures could be taken.. On 14 February 2017, he was expelled from the AIADMK by party general-secretary, V. K. Sasikala. Shortly after his expulsion, the Governor invited the newly elected legislative leader of the AIADMK, Edappadi K Palaniswami to form the government, following which he took over as chief minister on 16 February 2017.

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 .He also made a point to them that he needs the two leaf party symbol to contest in

RK Nagar RK Nagar may refer to: Places * Ramakrishnanagar, a neighbourhood in Mysore, India * Ramkrishna Nagar, Karimganj, a Township in Assam, India * Radhakrishnan Nagar, an Assembly constituency in Chennai, India * Radha Krishna Nagar, popularly known ...

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

and O. Panneerselvam Faction merged. He was made Deputy Chief Minister and was also given finance Ministry.

First Term as Deputy Chief Minister, 2017-2021

On 21 August 2017, Panneerselvam took oath as Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on the same day of the Party Merger with then Chief Minister EPS faction.

Leadership Tussle with Edappadi K. 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 2020 December executive committee meeting were not recognised in the general council meeting held on June 23. 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 the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury o ...

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 Madras High Court is a High Court in India. It has appellate jurisdiction over the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is located in Chennai, and is the third oldest high court of India after the Calcutta High C ...

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'' 2 judges. However, if the bench during the hearing of any matter feels that the matter needs to be considered by a larger bench, such a ...

of the High Court upheld the decisions of the AIADMK general council meeting held on 11 June 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 A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

dismissed the plea of Panneerselvam challenging the order of Madras High Court to handover the keys to Palaniswami.

Controversy

A report in

The Week magazine ''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 baron Sekhar Reddy's payroll. Reddy was arrested by the Income Tax department 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 ₹ 48 crore. 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

Tamil Nadu Legislative elections

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Panneerselvam, O. All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam politicians 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 politicians Tamil Nadu MLAs 2011–2016 Tamil Nadu MLAs 2016–2021 Tamil Nadu MLAs 2021–2026