Days after slapping a shock on ADMK over his sign of truce with expelled general secretary of the party VK Sasikala, ADMK Coordinator and Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Panneeselvam had now put the party's ally PMK into shockwaves by admitting that the 10% reservation bill provided to the Vanniyar community is temporary and that the quota will be finalized based on the caste-based Census results in Tamil Nadu. 

While the PMK leaders were shocked by Panneerselvam's statement as the party's voter base is powered by the Vanniyar community and it has to reach for the votes with the permanent reservation, the political observers say that his statement is yet another bid to win the votes from other communities like how he spoke in favor of Sasikala to woo the votes from her Thevar community, which holds one of the larger voter bases in Tamil Nadu. 

In an interview with an English news agency, Panneerselvam said that the caste inner reservation provided to the Vanniyar community is a provisional arrangement and the quota will be finalized based on the final caste-based Census results in Tamil Nadu. He further stated that the quota will be increased or decreased based on the outcome of the caste-based Census. Panneerselvam's statement has come when there were reports suggesting that the ADMK would lose the votes from the other Most-Backward communities over providing reservations for the Vanniyar community. 

In what has been yet another apparent display that how castes dominant Tamil Nadu politics, Panneerselvam's statement had triggered fresh dispute in the ADMK alliance and political debates over the longevity of the alliance. It had also displayed the prevalence of an unstable leadership in ADMK, which yearns to earn the vote base of the dominant castes with its imbalanced promises. The ADMK has been facing outrage from other castes and communities particularly from Southern Tamil Nadu, where Panneerselvam is contesting in the assembly polls. 

In the last week of February, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami had tabled the bill to provide 10.5% internal reservation to Vanniyars in education and employment opportunities within 20% quota for Most Backward Classes (MBC). The PMK party is running through the voter base from the Vanniyar community and the party had celebrated that it had won the demand of providing reservation for Vanniyars. PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss had earlier broken into tears after the reservation bill, displaying that the party is a savior of the Vanniyar community, which has a strong voter base in Northern Tamil Nadu. 

The ADMK and PMK leaders have been campaigning in Northern Tamil Nadu through the reservation bill. However, Panneerselvam has now given a big shock to ADMK and PMK by admitting that the reservation bill for Vanniyars is temporary. His statement had troubled PMK as the party has been pitching strongly that the reservation bill for Vanniyars has been adopted permanently and that Vanniyars will get a quota in education and employment. 

Panneerselvam's statement has come when Tamil Nadu is a week ahead of the assembly polls and it has been reported that the Deputy Chief Minister had made the comments keeping in mind of cultivating the votes from the other communities which are upset over ADMK for passing the reservation bill for Vanniyars. According to reports, his statement has come at a time when PMK members across the state were engaged in protests demanding 20% reservation for Vanniyars. 

Earlier, Panneeselvam had run into controversy over his statement of inducting VK Sasikala into the party. Last week, Panneerselvam said that Sasikala's induction into the party would be considered if she is ready to accept and adhere to the democratic set-up of the party. With Edappadi Palaniswami affirming that Sasikala won't be welcomed back into the party, the contradiction from Panneerselvam on inducting her into the party has come as his bid towards not losing the votes from her community in the upcoming polls, the political observers say. 

The political observers say that Edappadi Palaniswami has been mulling to keep the party under his control without any intervention from VK Sasikala and her family. However, Panneerselvam had admitted that the gate is still open for Sasikala and he doesn't have any dissatisfaction with her. His statement has come as his bid to save the party's grounds in southern Tamil Nadu. The reports highlight that the supporters of Sasikala and the members of her Thevar community would possibly vote against the ADMK for going against her.

Panneerselvam is going to contest in the Bodinayakanur constituency in Theni district and this constituency has a large voter base of Thevar community and he had now gone in favor of Sasikala to cultivate the votes from the Thevar community as every vote is important for Panneerselvam because he is going to take on DMK's Thanga Tamil Selvan, who had a strong rivalry against Panneerselvam. Following his comment in support of Sasikala, Edappadi Palaniswami met Panneerselvam and asked the latter to refrain from speaking about Sasikala as it would damage the party's prospect for victory. However, days after that, Panneerselvam had now shocked PMK by claiming that the Vanniyar reservation quota is temporary.