<p>Chennai: Expelled AIADMK leader K A Sengottaiyan on Friday claimed he demanded the unification of the party in public only after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) asked him to do so to strengthen the organisation. </p><p>Sengottaiyan’s remarks give credence to what was being whispered within the AIADMK – the BJP wants general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami to accommodate expelled leaders such as V K Sasikala, O Panneerselvam, and T T V Dhinakaran into the party. </p>.Dhinakaran criticises AIADMK for removing Sengottaiyan, says party will face political setback.<p>Sengottaiyan, who was associated with the AIADMK since its founding by the legendary M G Ramachandran in 1972, was expelled from the party on October 31, a day after he met Panneerselvam and Dhinakaran and pitched the need for an “unified” AIADMK. </p><p>However, the senior leader refused to accept the expulsion and is mulling moving the Election Commission of India (ECI) to challenge Palaniswami’s appointment as GS in 2022. </p>.A day after meeting OPS and TTV, Sengottaiyan expelled from AIADMK; EPS remains firm on not accommodating rebels .<p>Speaking to reporters in his native Gobichettipalayam, Sengottaiyan said he will decide on the future course of his action very soon when asked whether he will launch a new party. </p><p>The legislator reiterated that six senior leaders of the AIADMK, including himself, met Palaniswami after the 2024 Lok Sabha debacle and asked him to revive ties with the BJP and bring back expelled leaders. However, he said, Palaniswami did not agree to their demand then and criticized them for their idea. </p><p> “It was the BJP which invited me. They told me that the AIADMK should united and I should speak about it. Their intention was that the party should be strong and they never asked me to raise rebellion,” he said. “I also told them that the AIADMK and BJP need each other and that the saffron party should help us win Tamil Nadu in 2026,” Sengottaiyan added.</p><p>Ever since Sengottaiyan, a soft-spoken personality, began speaking against Palaniswami in February 2025, political circles were abuzz with rumours that the BJP was against him. The BJP top brass, especially a senior Union Minister who hails from Tamil Nadu, continued to engage with him, despite the AIADMK leadership taking objection to such meetings. </p><p>Things became clear when Union Home Minister Amit Shah gave an audience to Sengottaiyan in September, days after the AIADMK leader was removed from his party posts for demanding the return of rebel leaders. Weeks later, when Palaniswami met Shah in New Delhi, he categorically refused to accommodate the rebel leaders in the AIADMK. </p><p>Sources in the BJP told <em>DH</em> that Sengottaiyan was “in fact a BJP project” conceived in Delhi without taking the local unit into confidence. “He (Sengottaiyan) is not someone who can be a rebel. But the High Command handled him for many months and now he has been expelled from the AIADMK. Such incidents won’t help the alliance and take on the DMK,” a BJP leader said.</p>
<p>Chennai: Expelled AIADMK leader K A Sengottaiyan on Friday claimed he demanded the unification of the party in public only after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) asked him to do so to strengthen the organisation. </p><p>Sengottaiyan’s remarks give credence to what was being whispered within the AIADMK – the BJP wants general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami to accommodate expelled leaders such as V K Sasikala, O Panneerselvam, and T T V Dhinakaran into the party. </p>.Dhinakaran criticises AIADMK for removing Sengottaiyan, says party will face political setback.<p>Sengottaiyan, who was associated with the AIADMK since its founding by the legendary M G Ramachandran in 1972, was expelled from the party on October 31, a day after he met Panneerselvam and Dhinakaran and pitched the need for an “unified” AIADMK. </p><p>However, the senior leader refused to accept the expulsion and is mulling moving the Election Commission of India (ECI) to challenge Palaniswami’s appointment as GS in 2022. </p>.A day after meeting OPS and TTV, Sengottaiyan expelled from AIADMK; EPS remains firm on not accommodating rebels .<p>Speaking to reporters in his native Gobichettipalayam, Sengottaiyan said he will decide on the future course of his action very soon when asked whether he will launch a new party. </p><p>The legislator reiterated that six senior leaders of the AIADMK, including himself, met Palaniswami after the 2024 Lok Sabha debacle and asked him to revive ties with the BJP and bring back expelled leaders. However, he said, Palaniswami did not agree to their demand then and criticized them for their idea. </p><p> “It was the BJP which invited me. They told me that the AIADMK should united and I should speak about it. Their intention was that the party should be strong and they never asked me to raise rebellion,” he said. “I also told them that the AIADMK and BJP need each other and that the saffron party should help us win Tamil Nadu in 2026,” Sengottaiyan added.</p><p>Ever since Sengottaiyan, a soft-spoken personality, began speaking against Palaniswami in February 2025, political circles were abuzz with rumours that the BJP was against him. The BJP top brass, especially a senior Union Minister who hails from Tamil Nadu, continued to engage with him, despite the AIADMK leadership taking objection to such meetings. </p><p>Things became clear when Union Home Minister Amit Shah gave an audience to Sengottaiyan in September, days after the AIADMK leader was removed from his party posts for demanding the return of rebel leaders. Weeks later, when Palaniswami met Shah in New Delhi, he categorically refused to accommodate the rebel leaders in the AIADMK. </p><p>Sources in the BJP told <em>DH</em> that Sengottaiyan was “in fact a BJP project” conceived in Delhi without taking the local unit into confidence. “He (Sengottaiyan) is not someone who can be a rebel. But the High Command handled him for many months and now he has been expelled from the AIADMK. Such incidents won’t help the alliance and take on the DMK,” a BJP leader said.</p>