O. Panneerselvam

O. Panneerselvam
O. Panneerselvam
	Panneerselvam in 2017
Deputy Leader of the Opposition in Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 14 June 2021
Leader	Edappadi K. Palaniswami
Preceded by	Durai Murugan
Constituency	Bodinayakkanur
6th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
	In office; 5 December 2016 – 15 February 2017
Governor	C. Vidyasagar Rao (Addit. charge)
Preceded by	J. Jayalalithaa
Succeeded by	Edappadi K. Palaniswami
	In office; 28 September 2014 – 23 May 2015
Governor	Konijeti Rosaiah
Preceded by	J. Jayalalithaa
Succeeded by	J. Jayalalithaa
	In office; 21 September 2001 – 2 March 2002
Governor	C. Rangarajan (Addit. charge); P. S. Ramamohan Rao
Preceded by	J. Jayalalithaa
Succeeded by	J. Jayalalithaa
2nd Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
	In office; 21 August 2017 – 6 May 2021
Governor	C. Vidyasagar Rao (Addit. charge); Banwarilal Purohit
Chief Minister	Edappadi K. Palaniswami
Preceded by	M. K. Stalin
Succeeded by	Vacant
Leader of the Opposition in Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
	In office; 19 May 2006 – 28 May 2006
Speaker	R. Avudaiappan
Preceded by	K. Anbazhagan
Succeeded by	J. Jayalalithaa
Member of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 16 May 2011
Preceded by	S. Lakshmanan
Constituency	Bodinayakkanur
	In office; 14 May 2001 – 15 May 2011
Preceded by	L. Mookiah
Succeeded by	A. Laser
Constituency	Periyakulam
Chief Coordinator and Deputy Leader of the Party Legislature Committee All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 21 August 2017
Deputy	K. P. Munusamy, R. Vaithilingam
Joint Coordinator	Edappadi K. Palaniswami
Treasurer of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 28 August 2007
Chief Coordinator	Himself
Preceded by	T. T. V. Dhinakaran
Personal details
Born	14 January 1951 (age 70); Periyakulam, Madras State (present-day Theni District, Tamil Nadu, India)
Political party	All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Other political; affiliations	Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (1969–1973)
Spouse(s)	P. Vijayalakshmi (dead 2021)
Children	3 including P. Raveendranath Kumar
Mother	Palaniammal Nachiar
Father	Ottakkara Thevar
Residence	Thenpennai; 31, Greenways Road, Raja Annamalaipuram, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India (official); 145/70, South Agharaharam, Thenkarai, Periyakulam, Theni District, Tamil Nadu, India (permanent);
Education	B.A.
Alma mater	Hajee Karutha Rowther Howdia College
Awards	International Rising Star of the Year-Asia (2019)
Nickname(s)	O.P.S., Kaliyuga Bharathan

Ottakarathevar Panneerselvam Popularly Known as O.P.S. (born 14 January 1951)^[1] is an Indian politician who served as the 6th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for 3 terms from 2001 -2002 , 2014-2015 and 2016-2017 and the 2nd Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 21 August 2017 to 6 May 2021. He is the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from 11 May 2021 and the chief coordinator of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK).

He is a senior leader of the AIADMK political party and was a staunch loyalist of former chief minister of Tamil Nadu and AIADMK General Secretary J. Jayalalithaa. His first two terms as Chief Minister came when he replaced Jayalalithaa in the role, after she was forced to resign by the courts. His third term began following Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's death and ended two months later, Edappadi K. Palaniswami was appointed as the Chief Minister by Tamil Nadu Governor C. Vidyasagar Rao.^[4]^[5] He was sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on 21 August 2017. He also holds portfolios of Finance, Housing, Rural Housing, Housing Development, Slum Clearance Board and Accommodation Control, Town Planning, Urban Development, and Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority.^[6] On 4 January 2018, O. Panneerselvam elected as Leader of the House in Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.

Personal life[]

Panneerselvam was born to Ottakkara Thevar and Palaniammal Nachiar on 14 January 1951 in Periyakulam, Tamil Nadu. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Haji Karutha Rowther Howdia College in Uthamapalayam, Theni district. His close friend Salavuddin from Tenali encouraged him into politics. He also owned some agricultural land. He is married to P. Vijayalakshmi and the couple have three children. He is currently elected from the constituency of Bodinayakkanur, in Theni district. ^[7] His wife passed away on 1 Sep 2021 due to a heart attack. ^[8]

Political career[]

Early political career[]

Paneerselvam started his political career periyakulam as a worker of the then united DMK in 1969 at the age of 18. He started out as a young ground level party activist who worked at the booth level for municipal and legislative assembly elections, and worked his way up the Party. He joined the AIADMK in 1973 after M. G. Ramachandran split from the DMK and was among the first generations of party workers who split to found AIADMK and is thus a founding member. He was Chairman of Periyakulam Municipality from 1996 to 2001.

Panneerselvam with Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi in 2017

..

First term as Chief Minister, 2001-2002[]

He was sworn in as the 13th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in September 2001 when the Chief Minister Jayalalithaa was barred from holding office by the Supreme Court of India. During his stint as Chief Minister, he was widely criticised for allegedly heading a puppet government managed by Jayalalithaa. His tenure lasted for six months, from 21 September 2001 to 1 March 2002. In March 2002, he resigned as Chief Minister and Jayalalithaa was sworn in again after the Madras high Court overturned her conviction and she won a by-election from Andipatti assembly constituency. From 2 March 2002 to 13 December 2003, he was the Minister for Public Works, Prohibition and Excise. Subsequently, he was also entrusted with the Revenue department's charge from 13 December 2003 to 2006.

Leader of the Opposition, 2006[]

After the party lost the assembly elections in May 2006, Panneerselvam was the leader of the AIADMK legislative party and the Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly for about two weeks. In that election, he was elected to be the member of Tamil Nadu legislative assembly from Periyakulam. After all the AIADMK legislators were suspended by the speaker of the house, Jayalalithaa, who had decided not to attend the Legislative Assembly, decided to return and replaced Panneerselvam as the Leader of the Opposition.

Second term as Chief Minister, 2014-2015[]

In 2011, he contested as an AIADMK candidate from the Bodinayakkanur and won. Again, he became the Minister of Finance in Jayalalithaa's government and held the office from 16 May 2011 to 27 September 2014. He was again entrusted with the responsibility of being Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on 29 September 2014 when Jayalalitha was convicted in the disproportionate assets case. On 22 May 2015, he resigned as Chief Minister and Jayalalithaa was sworn in again after the Karnataka High Court acquitted her in the disproportionate assets case on 11 May 2015.^[9]^[10]

A year after his resignation, on 23 May 2016, he was sworn in as Minister for Finance and Public Works Department in Jayalalithaa's government.

Third term as Chief Minister, 2016-2017[]

On 6 December 2016, Panneerselvam was elected as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu following the death of incumbent Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.^[11] On 10 December he held his first cabinet meeting as a full-term Chief Minister..^[12] He tended his resignation as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on 6 February 2017 to the governor, who accepted and appointed him as the caretaker Chief Minister of the state to avoid a leadership vacuum, until further measures could be taken.^{[citation needed]}. On 14 February 2017, he was expelled from the AIADMK by party general-secretary, V. K. Sasikala. Shortly after his expulsion, the Governor invited the newly elected legislative leader of the AIADMK, Edappadi K Palaniswami to form the government, following which he took over as chief minister on 16 February 2017.^[13]

Controversy[]

A report in The Week magazine on December 2017, alleged that Panneerselvam was on the sand mining baron 's payroll.^[14] Reddy was arrested by the Income Tax department in March 2017 on money laundering charges. Five pages of the Reddy's Diary suggest alleged payments made to several AIADMK ministers, MLAs, and many others, amounting to more than ₹ 48 crore. At least five payments in which the word 'OPS' or the name of his secretary Ramesh was written are shown in the contents of the diary.^[15]^[16]

Elections contested[]

Tamil Nadu Legislative elections[]

Elections	Constituency	Party	Result	Vote percentage	Opposition Candidate	Opposition Party	Opposition vote percentage
2001 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election	Periyakulam	AIADMK	Won	54.28	M. Abuthahir	DMK	38.62
2006 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election	Periyakulam	AIADMK	Won	49.81	L. Mookiah	DMK	39.00
2011 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election	Bodinayakkanur	AIADMK	Won	56.69	S. Lakshmanan	DMK	38.89
2016 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election	Bodinayakkanur	AIADMK	Won	49.38	S. Lakshmanan	DMK	41.63
2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election	Bodinayakkanur	AIADMK	Won	46.58	Thanga Tamil Selvan	DMK	41.45

New Party Symbol[]

After his exit from AIADMK Panneerselvam and his supporters appealed to the election commission to take action against the current chief minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and party General Secretary Sasikala. He also made a point to them that he needs the two leaf party symbol to contest in RK Nagar election. Also, Edappadi K. Palaniswami and supporters appealed against him, but the election commission rejected both the appeals and allotted two different symbols to each party.^[17]

In August 2017 Edappadi K. Palaniswami and O. Panneerselvam Faction merged. He was made Deputy Chief Minister and was also given finance Ministry.

References[]

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "Thiru O. Panneerselvam Hon'ble Deputy Chief Minister". Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
^ "Sasikala meets Panneerselvam, condoles his wife's death by holding his hands". The Times of India. 1 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
^ Akshaya Nath (1 September 2021). "AIADMK leader Panneerselvam's wife Vijayalakshmi passes away after heart attack". India Today. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
^ "E Palaniswami is new Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, 30 other AIADMK leaders take oath at Raj Bhavan". Retrieved 16 February 2017.
^ "Palaniswami takes oath as CM, OPS says will fight for justice". Hindustan Times. 16 February 2017. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
^ "AIADMK merger: Panneerselvam is Deputy CM, gets finance portfolio". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 21 August 2017.
^ "O. Panneerselvam Biography - About family, political life, awards won, history". Retrieved 17 February 2017.
^ "Former Tamilnadu Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam's wife passes away". Retrieved 1 September 2021.
^ "DA case Live: Jayalalithaa walks out of prison, gets rousing welcome in Chennai". 18 October 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
^ "TN CM O Panneerselvam resigns, makes way for Jayalalithaa to take over - Times of India". Retrieved 17 February 2017.
^ "Its official: AIADMK leaders choose O Panneerselvam as Jayalalithaas successor". Retrieved 5 December 2016.
^ "O Panneerselvam holds first cabinet meeting after Jayalalithaa's demise". India.com. 10 December 2016.
^ "AIADMK sacks Panneerselvam, 19 other rebel leaders from party - Times of India". Retrieved 17 February 2017.
^ "O Panneerselvam Dodges Corruption Charge As Report Triggers New Row". NDTV.com. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
^ "Sekar Reddy's 'secret diary': Were OPS, other ministers on mining baron's payroll?". The News Minute. 8 December 2017. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
^ "Money, and the man?". The Week. 17 December 2017.
^ "Blow to AIADMK: 'Two leaves' symbol frozen by Election Commission". deccanchronicle.com/. 23 March 2017. Retrieved 12 June 2017.

Political offices
Preceded by J. Jayalalithaa	Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu First tenure 2001–2002	Succeeded by J. Jayalalithaa
	Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Second tenure 2014–2015	Succeeded by J. Jayalalithaa
	Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Third tenure 6 December 2016 – 16 February 2017	Succeeded by K. Palanisamy
Preceded by M. K. Stalin	Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu 21 August 2017 — 6 May 2021	Succeeded by Vacant

[ATN-1] Jump up to: ^a ^b "Thiru O. Panneerselvam Hon'ble Deputy Chief Minister". Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. Retrieved 12 January 2020.

[2] "Sasikala meets Panneerselvam, condoles his wife's death by holding his hands". The Times of India. 1 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.

[3] Akshaya Nath (1 September 2021). "AIADMK leader Panneerselvam's wife Vijayalakshmi passes away after heart attack". India Today. Retrieved 3 September 2021.

[4] "E Palaniswami is new Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, 30 other AIADMK leaders take oath at Raj Bhavan". Retrieved 16 February 2017.

[5] "Palaniswami takes oath as CM, OPS says will fight for justice". Hindustan Times. 16 February 2017. Retrieved 16 February 2017.

[6] "AIADMK merger: Panneerselvam is Deputy CM, gets finance portfolio". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 21 August 2017.

[7] "O. Panneerselvam Biography - About family, political life, awards won, history". Retrieved 17 February 2017.

[8] "Former Tamilnadu Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam's wife passes away". Retrieved 1 September 2021.

[9] "DA case Live: Jayalalithaa walks out of prison, gets rousing welcome in Chennai". 18 October 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2017.

[10] "TN CM O Panneerselvam resigns, makes way for Jayalalithaa to take over - Times of India". Retrieved 17 February 2017.

[11] "Its official: AIADMK leaders choose O Panneerselvam as Jayalalithaas successor". Retrieved 5 December 2016.

[12] "O Panneerselvam holds first cabinet meeting after Jayalalithaa's demise". India.com. 10 December 2016.

[13] "AIADMK sacks Panneerselvam, 19 other rebel leaders from party - Times of India". Retrieved 17 February 2017.

[14] "O Panneerselvam Dodges Corruption Charge As Report Triggers New Row". NDTV.com. Retrieved 18 January 2021.

[15] "Sekar Reddy's 'secret diary': Were OPS, other ministers on mining baron's payroll?". The News Minute. 8 December 2017. Retrieved 18 January 2021.

[16] "Money, and the man?". The Week. 17 December 2017.

[17] "Blow to AIADMK: 'Two leaves' symbol frozen by Election Commission". deccanchronicle.com/. 23 March 2017. Retrieved 12 June 2017.

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show v t Government of Tamil Nadu
Executive	Governor: Banwarilal Purohit
Council of Ministers	Edappadi K. Palanisamy O. Panneerselvam Dindigul C. Sreenivasan K. A. Sengottaiyan Sellur K. Raju P. Thangamani S. P. Velumani D. Jayakumar C. Ve. Shanmugam K. P. Anbalagan Dr. V. Saroja M. C. Sampath K. C. Karuppannan R. Kamaraj O. S. Manian Udumalai K. Radhakrishnan Dr. C. Vijaya Baskar R. Doraikkannu Kadambur C. Raju R. B. Udhaya Kumar Vellamandi N. Natarajan K. C. Veeramani K. T. Rajenthra Bhalaji P. Benjamin M. R. Vijayabhaskar Dr. M. Manikandan V. M. Rajalakshmi K. Pandiarajan Sevvoor S. Ramachandran S. Valarmathi P. Balakrishna Reddy
Legislature	Speaker: P. Dhanapal Deputy Speaker: V. Jayaraman
Judiciary	Chief Justice of the Madras High Court: Amreshwar Pratap Sahi
Departments	Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare; Agriculture Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries Co-operation, Food and Consumer Protection Energy Environment and Forests Health and Family Welfare Higher Education Highways and Minor Ports Home, Prohibition and Excise Industries Labour and Employment Law Public Works Revenue Rural Development and Panchayat Social Reforms Transport Welfare of Differently Abled Persons
Agencies	Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC) CMDA CMWSSB Electricity Board Energy Development Agency (TEDA) Express Transport Corporation ELCOT Housing Board (TNHB) Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) Metropolitan Transport Corporation Poompuhar Shipping Corporation Limited State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) SIPCOT TANSIDCO TNPL Tourism Development Corporation Slum Clearance Board Transport Corporation (TNSTC) Water Supply and Drainage Board (TWAD)

show v t Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu
Madras Presidency	A. Subbarayalu Reddiar Panagal Raja P. Subbarayan P. Munuswamy Naidu Ramakrishna Ranga Rao P. T. Rajan Kurma Venkata Reddy Naidu C. Rajagopalachari Tanguturi Prakasam O. P. Ramaswamy Reddiyar P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja
Madras State	C. Rajagopalachari K. Kamaraj M. Bakthavatsalam C. N. Annadurai
Tamil Nadu	C. N. Annadurai M. Karunanidhi M. G. Ramachandran V. N. Janaki Ramachandran J. Jayalalithaa O. Panneerselvam Edappadi K. Palaniswami M. K. Stalin (incumbent)
Acting	V. R. Nedunchezhiyan