Tamil Nadu: Jolt To OPS Camp As Its Erode East Bypoll Candidate Senthil Murugan Joins EPS Faction Of AIADMK In Chennai

Senthil Murugan, the candidate of the O Panneerselvam (OPS) faction of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) in the Erode East bypoll joined the Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) faction of the AIADMK at a function in Chennai today (9 March).

The EPS faction had called a meeting of its district secretaries in Chennai today to deliberate on the steps to be taken after the Supreme Court allowed him to continue as Interim General Secretary of the party.

Murugan who was also appointed as the ‘Organising Secretary’ by Panneerselvam, did not contest the bypoll as the OPS faction later announced its support for the candidate put up by the EPS faction, i.e., KS Thennarasu.

This switching of allegiance by Murugan comes just about a week after the declaration of the results of the bypoll, in which Thennarasu lost to EVKS Elangovan of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-led alliance by a margin of around 66000 votes.

Reacting to the development, Panneerselvam said that Murugan has been ‘expelled’ from the party by him in his capacity as the Coordinator of the AIADMK.

According to political commentators, Murugan may have jumped ship because he felt that he did not have much scope in politics by continuing to stay in the OPS faction, especially after an unfavourable verdict from the Supreme Court.

This also comes amidst the ongoing tussle between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the EPS faction of the AIADMK regarding the induction of BJP leaders into the latter.

In the past few days BJP leaders like IT Wing head CTR Nirmal Kumar and state secretary Dilip Kannan had left the party saying that they did not like the functioning of the state leadership, especially that of state president K Annamalai.

Also Read: Tamil Nadu: Why Are Some BJP Leaders Joining The AIADMK?