Silent' Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam shows word power

Chennai: A man of few words has finally spoken. And his message is loud and clear. O.Panneerselvam proved the adage, “Silence is Golden” on Tuesday night as he openly revolted against AIADMK General Secretary V.K. Sasikala, a long-time aide of his late mentor J. Jayalalithaa.

Often a butt of ridicule hitherto for his silence that was not always golden like it was on Tuesday, Mr Panneerselvam broke his silence in style. He first meditated for 40 minutes, wrote the script on what to speak in his mind and waited for more than 10 minutes for the unruly media to settle down to open his heart out.

Political analyst Bernard D’ Sami told Deccan Chronicle OPS’ outburst against Ms Sasikala Natarajan was like “calm before the storm.”

“Though this was expected from him much earlier, it is always better late than never. I am very happy that he has finally come out against the manufactured consent received from MLAs for making Sasikala the Chief Minister,” Mr D' Sami said.

Agreeing with Mr D' Sami, another political commentator and lawyer Ravindran Duraisamy says Mr OPS was always a “simple man, down to earth and possess great qualities.” He said the CM always goes by his “intuition and not intelligence, while maintaining that he has admiration towards him.

“His silent revolt against Sasikala shows his family and political background and how that has contributed to his good character,” he said. However, Prof Ramu Manivannan of the University of Madras says OPS breaking his silence was “not based on conscience but on retaining power in Tamil Nadu.”

“Mr Panneerselvam very well knows that her (Sasikala's) boat has hit the rocks and leaders of the party are individually and collectively fooling the people,” he said, adding, “that too many people are enacting too many dramas.”