O Paneerselvam won’t cross Lakshman Rekha

Chennai: He is fondly called ‘OPS’ (short for O.Paneerselvam) . And now, on another sombre September evening, he is back as OPS -“Only Proxy”-Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. Sixty three-year-old Paneerselvam is an expert at playing proxy. And when Jayalalithaa had to step down as Chief Minister on the devastating verdict by the Special Court in Bengaluru, he emerged as the natural choice.

He has the perfect resume to be the ‘interim CM’ till Jayalalithaa returns to the helm again. His wheels of loyalty and humility have been test-driven. And he is an unambitious AIADMK man who will not cross the Lakshman Rekha of trust and exceed “Amma’s” brief. “He perfectly understands the likes and dislikes of the Chief Minister and knows how to keep her in good humour. Besides he has 12 years of ministerial experience now which will come in handy to manage the present crisis”, says a former minister.

Some 13 years ago, on September 21, 2001, in a somewhat similar crisis when Jayalalithaa had to step down, OP was chosen to replace her over veterans like C.Ponnaiyan and M. Thambidurai. He was only a first-time MLA and a minister with very little administrative experience. His only qualifications then were his proximity to Jayalalithaa’s friend Sasikala and his Thevar community tag, said political observers.

But the former Municipalty chairman from Periyakulam in southern Tamil Nadu carefully remained in the shadows and ‘protected’ the Chief Ministerial chair for six months till Jayalalithaa took over the mantle again in March 2002.

Media dubbed him the ‘puppet chief minister and a Teflon Chief Minister’, but he just remained unfazed.  When news photographers click his pictures, he always has just one request: “Please don’t publish my pictures in the newspapers. Publish Amma’s statements and pictures.” Now, his loyalty has been rewarded for a second time.