Former Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Panneerselvam has finally got a key post in representing the ADMK in the assembly as he has been elected as the Deputy Opposition Leader in the assembly, which has become yet another display that he has been kept out of the direct powers in the party. While he initially restrained from taking over the post of Deputy Opposition Leader with the demand of taking full control of the party, Palaniswami has won by finally convincing the former to settle for the post amid the ongoing tussle.

The political observers say that in the midst of bracing up the intra-party furore over VK Sasikala's political resurgence, Edappadi Palaniswami eyes to contain Panneerselvam's rise in the party by keeping the latter at a post lower to him. Though Pannneerselvam remains to be ADMK's Coordinator, most of the legislators and senior leaders are at the back of Palaniswami and nothing in the party escapes from Palaniswami's knowledge. 

Four years back, when the ADMK had rifted after the revolt of Panneerselvam, Palaniswami emerged as the face of the party, and following the expulsion of Sasikala from the party, Palaniswami won in a merger drive with Panneerselvam after convincing the latter to brace up the post of Deputy Chief Minister with the assertion of leading the party. After the merger, Panneerselvam's politics was in the fashion of being deputy to Palaniswami, who also exercised equal power in the party.

Panneerselvam drove the four years by witnessing an erosion in his stronghold and after the party had faced a big debacle in the recently-held assembly polls, Panneerselvam moved to become the Opposition Leader in the assembly in his bid to rebuild his power in the party. There was a tug-of-war between both the leaders that materialized another round of rift and sparked the demand for a single leadership in the party. However, after episodes of debates, Palaniswami has finally won by becoming the Opposition Leader of the assembly with the backing of most of the party's MLAs. 

Opposition Leader enjoys an equal rank that of a cabinet minister and with that, the current DMK government has allowed Palaniswami to stay at the government bungalow. Palaniswami had spoken with Panneerselvam to take over the post of Deputy Opposition Leader. However, he declined the offer initially and demanded Palaniswami leave the control of the party with him. But for Panneerselvam, most of his efforts have gone vain. 

With a lack of stable support at the top level, Panneerselvam had skipped some of the high-level party meetings to register his dissent against Palaniswami. However, VK Sasikala's latest drama of political resurgence to take over the party had cautioned Palaniswami to enhance his stronghold to barricade Sasikala's political comeback. With Sasikala's outreach to the party leaders across the state, Palaniswami had speculated that Panneerselvam would observe a political bonhomie with Sasikala. 

The political observers say with that speculation, Palaniswami and his supporters had spoken with Panneerselvam to convince the latter under a claim that Sasikala's entry would collapse the stronghold of both of the leaders. Her bid to take over the party would push both of them to the second or third tier of leadership. Palaniswami had spoken with Panneerselvam and said that the party has to unite and remain under their control through which they can break Sasikala's entry into the party. 

On Monday, the party had convened a high-level meeting at the party's headquarters in Chennai, and at the meeting, the party had elected Panneerselvam as the Deputy Opposition Leader. Palaniswami had again won in keeping Panneerselvam as his Deputy, then as Deputy Chief Minister, and now as Deputy Opposition Leader, in his bid to barricade Sasikala's entry. 

In the meeting, the party has unanimously elected former Municipal Administration Minister SP Velumani as the party's whip in the assembly, former Information Minister Kadambur Raju as the party's treasurer, former Higher Education Minister KP Anbalagan as the secretary, and Alangulam MLA PH Manoj Pandian as the deputy secretary. These appointments were mentioned in a statement jointly released by Palaniswami and Panneerselvam. 

Besides electing new office-bearers, the ADMK has passed a staunch resolution against Sasikala and the party has said that Sasikala is staging a strange drama of speaking to some of the party functionaries over the phone to enter the party. The ADMK leadership has on Monday expelled 16 party leaders including a former minister and a former MP for speaking with Sasikala and supporting her political comeback.