K A Sengottaiyan (L) and Edappadi K Palaniswami
Credit: X/@KASengottaiyan/PTI
Cracking the whip after he set a 10-day deadline to unite the party, AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Saturday removed senior leader K A Sengottaiyan from all party posts.
EPS also removed six others who supported Sengottaiyan.
Reacting to his axing, Sengottaiyan said, “Magizchi (I am happy).”
Tensions fuelled between the two leaders after Sengottaiyan pushed for an unified AIADMK by re-inducting the likes of V K Sasikala.
Sengottaiyan, on Friday, had set a 10-day deadline for EPS to take steps towards bringing back those who had left the party. If Palaniswami does not heed to his ultimatum, Sengottaiyan had said that he himself would spearhead the effort along with “like-minded” leaders.
In a carefully scripted press conference in Gobichettipalayam in Erode district, Sengottaiyan didn’t criticise Palaniswami but stressed the need for bringing back Sasikala, her nephew T T V Dhinakaran, and former chief minister O Panneerselvam to the party to make the AIADMK “battle-ready” for the 2026 polls, without naming them.
This was the first time that a voice within the AIADMK—Sengottaiyan is one of the senior most leaders of the party having been an MLA since 1977—pushed for the reentry of the three leaders, all belonging to the dominant Mukulathors spread across central and southern parts of Tamil Nadu.
At no point in his interaction, Sengottaiyan spoke even remotely against the High Command but subtly conveyed his message as part of his efforts and addressed Palaniswami as the general secretary of the AIADMK.
With DHNS inputs