News Brief
OPS, Nainar Nagendran Spar Over Claims Of Outreach, Dhinakaran Says Panneerselvam Should Be Brought Back To NDA
OPS with TTV Dhinakaran
The clash between Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party chief Nainar Nagendran and former AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam (OPS) escalated on Sunday (3 August), with both leaders firmly rejecting each other’s claims of contact.
According to a report by Times of India, OPS presented text messages he said proved he tried to reach out, but Nagendran countered that these were no solid proof of communication.
Meanwhile, AMMK leader TTV Dhinakaran urged BJP’s central and state leaders to bring OPS back into the NDA alliance. On the same day, OPS warned supporters not to discuss alliances, threatening action against violators. The flare-up began when Nagendran challenged OPS to produce evidence that he had sought an appointment with Prime Minister Modi during the latter’s recent Tamil Nadu visit.
Speaking to reporters in Erode, Nagendran insisted no such messages ever arrived.
“OPS did not contact me. It was I who called him before he met Chief Minister Stalin,” Nagendran said, adding he would not retaliate despite facing allegations.
Later in Odanilai, Nagendran said displaying messages from a phone was insufficient to establish contact conclusively.
TTV Dhinakaran stressed that BJP leaders in Delhi and Tamil Nadu should act swiftly to bring OPS back into the NDA. “OPS was with BJP even before I joined. They should take steps to bring him back,” he said.
He blamed unnamed leaders for forcing OPS out and expressed confidence OPS would not align with DMK. Later, OPS released a statement warning supporters to avoid any alliance talk and instead campaign on the DMK government’s failures and AIADMK’s decline.
In a related twist, senior AIADMK leader C Ponnaiyan alleged that OPS had maintained a “secret understanding” with the DMK for a long time.
