Chennai: Political activities have intensified in Tamil Nadu before the assembly elections 2026. The process of leaders changing sides has started. According to the latest information, former Chief Minister of the state and leader expelled from AIADMK O Panneerselvam has joined Dravina Munnetra Kanagam (DMK) on Friday. This step has been taken recently after the Panneerselvam camp’s praise for Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and his prediction of the return of the DMK government in the state.
According to the latest developments, Panneerselvam joined the DMK party in the presence of state Chief Minister MK Stalin.
Let us tell you that Panneerselvam, who has been the Chief Minister of the state more than three times, was given the name of former CM Late. J Jayalalitha is considered very special. After a long leadership struggle in AIADMK between him and Edappadi K Palaniswami, he was expelled from the party. Earlier on Friday, Panneerselvam camp MLA P Ayyappan had expressed his desire to see M Stalin lead the state again after the next assembly elections. Ayyappan said in the Assembly that with the blessings of Puratchi Thalaivar MG, MK Stalin should once again become the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.
At the same time, political experts believe that after Panneerselvam joins DMK, the vote bank of South Tamil Nadu may be significantly affected. Panneerselvam is considered very influential in the Thevar community of this area.
Elections to the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly will be held in the first six months of 2026, where the MK Stalin-led alliance will try to project ‘Dravidian Model 2.0’ to win against the BJP-AIADMK alliance. At the same time, the entry of actor-turned-politician Vijay with Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) is expected to lead to a triangular contest in Tamil Nadu elections.
In the last assembly elections 2021, DMK had won 133 seats. Congress won 18 seats, PMK five, VCK four and others won eight. The DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA), which included the Congress, won a total of 159 seats. While the NDA won 75 seats, the AIADMK emerged as the largest party in the alliance with 66 seats.
Panneerselvam first assumed the post of Chief Minister of the state in the year 2001, although he remained in this post only for 6 months. He had resigned. After this, he again became CM in 2014, but this time he remained in the chair only for a month. He held the post of Chief Minister for the third time in 2016, but once again in 2017 he had to step down from the post.