As long as Edappadi K. Palaniswami remains AIADMK general secretary, the party would continue to lose every election, said O Panneerselvam, who was previously expelled from the party, and is now the DMK candidate for the Bodinayakanur Assembly constituency.

Filing his nomination for the upcoming Assembly election on Monday, he told journalists Mr. Palaniswami has no gratitude at all. “Everyone knows how and who made him the Chief Minister. Should he not be thankful to ‘Chinnamma’ (V. K. Sasikala)?” he asked.

He went on to say there are six more cases pending, including a civil suit challenging the AIADMK leadership. “Even today, Mr. Palaniswami cannot claim to be the general secretary, as the matter is pending in court,” he contended.

The AIADMK has already been facing defeat after defeat and would continue to decline, he believed. He added under the leadership of Chief Minister M. K. Stalin, the DMK would form the government again and implement more beneficial programmes for the people of Tamil Nadu.

Responding to AIADMK senior leader R. B. Udhayakumar’s remark that he (OPS) was a traitor and that the people would never forget or forgive him, Mr. Panneerselvam contended it was the AIADMK that did not want him. “I never quit the party. It was they (Palaniswami and others) who did not want me there… I never ditched anybody,” he said.

“In my 50 years of public life, I have discharged my duties sincerely in every position—be it as municipal chairman or as Chief Minister,” he said. As the MLA of Bodinayakkanur, he claimed that 99.99% of the promised works had been completed.