Explained | How Vijay’s fledgling party got a big pre-poll boost with Sengottaiyan joining TVK

It may be a climbdown for 77-year-old, who had worked with MGR and Jayalalithaa, but Sengottaiyan joining is a boost for TVK, which lacks seasoned politicians.

Chennai: In February this year, when K A Sengottaiyan, who was with the AIADMK since its founding in 1972, raised a rebellion against party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, everyone was surprised.

It is not the nature of 77-year-old to rebel as the soft-spoken veteran leader has always been known for his unflinching loyalty to the AIADMK and its leadership. 

Political circles were abuzz with rumours that Sengottaiyan was being used by the BJP to pressurise Palaniswami to come back to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for the 2026 Assembly polls and accept expelled leaders – V K Sasikala, T T V Dhinakaran, and O Panneerselvam – back into the party. 

His regular meetings with a Union Minister hailing from the state and BJP leaders taking turns to hail Sengottaiyan gave much-needed credence to the speculation. Ever since the BJP began fishing in AIADMK’s troubled waters after the death of its charismatic leader J Jayalalithaa, Sengottaiyan was an integral part of its ‘plan-B’. Sadly, the plan never took off. 

With his rebellion ending his expulsion from the AIADMK, the nine-time legislator decided enough was enough. After 52 years in the AIADMK, Sengottaiyan joined the TVK on Thursday. He has now joined the list of AIADMK leaders like O Panneerselvam who were propped up by the BJP but dropped off midway. 

It may be a climbdown for the veteran leader who had worked with the late M G Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa, but Sengottaiyan joining is a significant boost for the fledgling TVK, which lacks experienced and seasoned politicians. 

His non-rebellious nature did not help Sengottaiyan keep up his attacks against Palaniswami for long. While pretending to rebel, he kept acknowledging the latter’s leadership within and outside the Assembly even as the BJP continued to push him to seek for unification of the party. 

Months later, Sengottaiyan made an impassionate plea for the unification of the AIADMK on September 5 by setting a 10-day deadline for Palaniswami to initiate the process for taking back expelled leaders V K Sasikala, T T V Dhinakaran, and O Panneerselvam into the party. 

He was removed from his party posts the next day. A miffed Sengottaiyan rushed to Delhi to meet BJP leaders, including Amit Shah, to complain about the action. However, nothing came out of his meetings. 

“It was BJP which asked Sengottaiyan to push for a unified AIADMK and he simply executed their plan. But he felt let down by the BJP as he was cold-shouldered by the leaders who were in touch with him. He began meeting OPS and TTV and that is why he appeared on a stage with OPS and TTV on October 30,” a source told DH. 

The next day, Sengottaiyan was expelled from the AIADMK, bringing curtains on his 52-year-old association with the party. 

“He (Sengottaiyan) was not willing to trust the BJP again and that’s why he chose TVK. DMK was not an option for him since he will only be one among many, but in TVK he will be the senior-most. Moreover, TVK is anti-DMK just like AIADMK,” a source close to him said. 

Sengottaiyan, who had worked closely with MGR and credited by Jayalalithaa for his organisational skills especially drafting her election campaign plan, also hails from the influential Gounder community much like Palaniswami. 

In fact, Sengottaiyan was also one of the front-runners for the CM’s post when V K Sasikala had to step aside and declare a new AIADMK legislature party leader after her conviction in a corruption case and is a senior to Palaniswami in the party.