Three-time Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and former coordinator of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), O. Panneerselvam, could scarcely have imagined, even at the time of his expulsion from the party in July 2022, that he would one day visit the residence of Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and interact with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president twice in 12 hours.
On July 31, both met at the historic and salubrious Theosophical Society in Adyar during their morning walk. In the evening, accompanied by his son and former Theni MP P. Ravindhranath Kumar, Mr. Panneerselvam held discussions with the Chief Minister and his son and Deputy CM Udhayanidhi Stalin for about 45 minutes at Mr. Stalin’s residence in south Chennai’s upmarket Alwarpet. The actions of the tea seller-turned-politician raised many eyebrows because he had all along fashioned himself as a quintessential loyalist of Jayalalithaa, who wore anti-DMKism on her sleeve on the lines of the AIADMK’s founder and former Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran.
