Adding yet another twist to the ongoing political drama in Tamil Nadu, late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's niece Deepa Jayakumar and incumbent CM O Panneerselvam joined forces at the Jayalalithaa memorial at Marina beach and addressed the media on Tuesday evening.
OPS was the first one to arrive at the memorial. In a synchronised move, Deepa reached within minutes. With folded hands, OPS welcomed Deepa and then the duo then paid floral tributes to Jayalalithaa.
While Deepa had announced several times in the past that she had decided to take the plunge into politics, she had kept mum on her immediate plans. She had said that she would announce her plans on Jayalalithaa's birthday. With her joining forces with OPS, she has kicked off her political career.
Deepa told the media that this could be considered as her official entry into politics. She added that she was joining forces with OPS and Sasikala had reached the place she deserved to be in.
This comes at a time when OPS is engaged in a high profile political struggle with Sasikala over the reigns of AIADMK and the TN government, and the Supreme Court has convicted Sasikala in the DA case. Deepa too has spoken out against Sasikala in the past and accused her for isolating Jayalalithaa from the rest of her family.
Deepa joining forces with OPS seems to be a tactical move, as being part of Jayalalithaa’s family, Deepa is expected to convince a few MLAs to cross over to the OPS camp.
Jayalalithaa had always slammed the DMK for dynasty politics, making it one of her key points of attack against the DMK. It is ironic that the family member of a politician who had always denounced dynasty politics has now entered the arena to carry the torch forward.
The DMK has mocked the move and called the 'union' a result of massive confusion within the AIADMK.
"Every day we have a new name. One day we need to choose between OPS and Sasikala. The next day it's a choice between Deepak and Deepa. We have had some 4 names for Chief Minister in a matter of months," said Manu Sundaram, spokesperson of the DMK.