O Panneerselvam

O. Panneerselvam is an Indian politician who is popularly known as O.P.S. He is currently the Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and also the coordinator of political party All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). He was born in Periyakulam, Tamil Nadu to parents Ottakkara Thevar and Palaniammal Nachiar. He has pursued a Bachelor of Arts degree from Haji Karutha Rowther Howdia College in Uthamapalayam, Thani district. His close friend from Theni, Salvunddin encouraged him to join politics. He married P. Vijayalakshmi. The couple has three children. At the moment, he is an elect from the constituency of Bodinayakkanur, Theni district. He was elected as the Chief Minister of the state of Tamil Nadu for three terms from 2001-2002, 2014-2015, and 2016-2017. He is considered one of the senior leaders of the AIADMK, and he was a loyalist of the Late Former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Jayalalitha.

His two earlier terms began when Jayalalitha was forced to resign from the court while his latest session initiated after the death of veteran leader Jayalalitha and ended in two months after Edapaddi K. Palaniswami was appointed as the Chief Minister by the Tamil Nadu Governor C. Vidyasagar Rao. He started his political career as a worker of DMK when it was a united party in 1969 as a teenager. He began his work as a young party activist at the municipal and legislative assembly elections level. After the split of AIDMK from DMK, in 1973 by M.G Ramachandran he joined the newly formed AIDMK. He was one of the first members of the party, and thus he is regarded as one of the founding members of the party. He was also the chairman of Periyakulam Municipality from 1996 to 2001. His first term as Chief Minister started in September 2001 and lasted till March 2002 for six months. After winning from the Bodinayakkanur, he was sworn in as the Finance Minister in Jayalalitha’s government for the term 2011-2014.

His second term initiated in September 2015 and ended in May 2016. After his resignation in 2016, he was once again sworn in as the Finance Minister and Public Works Department Minister of Tamil Nadu. His third term as the Chief Minister started after the death of the Former Chief Minister Jayalalitha on December 10th, 2016. He resigned from the post on 6th February 2017. After his resignation, he had been appointed as the Caretaker Chief Minister of the state. Later, on 14th, February 2017, he was expelled from AIADMK by the general-secretary of the party V.K Sasikala. He further went on to form his party and appealed the governor to take actions against the current Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and Secretary V.K Sasikala.