Tamil Nadu’s former chief minister and expelled All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader O Panneerselvam on Friday joined the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Chennai, months ahead of the state Assembly election

DMK chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin said he welcomes Panneerselvam “with open arms”.

Panneerselvam’s son P Ravindranath Kumar also joined the DMK on Friday, ANI reported.

The former chief minister was expelled from the AIADMK in 2022 after a leadership tussle with Edappadi K Palaniswami, who is the leader of the Opposition in Tamil Nadu.

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After joining the DMK, Panneerselvam alleged that Palaniswami “is keen on making sure no leaders from the south become strong”, ANI reported.

“EPS is behaving as a dictator, and he has created an AIADMK which cannot get victory hereafter,” he further alleged.

Panneerselvam thanked Stalin for inducting him into the DMK and said he has joined the party “with absolute joy”, ANI reported.

On July 11, 2022, Panneerselvam was also removed as the AIADMK’s treasurer for “anti-party activities”. The expulsion took place minutes after the party’s general council elected Palaniswami as the interim general secretary.

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The general council had also abolished the party’s dual leadership model and appointed Palaniswami as the “single supreme leader”.

Panneerselvam was formerly the coordinator of the AIADMK and Palaniswami was the joint coordinator.

The two positions of coordinator and joint coordinator were created during a general council meeting on September 12, 2017, after the party gave the honorary title of “eternal general secretary” to the late former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.

The Panneerselvam-led camp had opposed the move to remove the posts, saying it would amount to a betrayal of Jayalalithaa.