Decision on expulsion of Sengottaiyan final, says AIADMK gen sec Palaniswami

Salem: The decision to expel party senior K A Sengottaiyan for bringing disrepute to the AIADMK was unanimously made by the party’s general council and this was final and binding, general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami said on Saturday.

Indicating that a person of Sengottaiyan’s stature should not covertly function as the “B team” of the ruling DMK, Palaniswami claimed that the former has been indulging in anti-party activities since the last six months.

"Sengottaiyan boycotted my felicitation function on Athikadavu Avinashi project, saying there’s no portrait of party leaders MGR and Jayalalithaa at the event organised by farmers in his home district of Erode," Palaniswami told reporters here. 30 per cent of the project benefited Erode district, he added.

The function was organised by farmers in Annur in Coimbatore on February 9, to thank him for sanctioning funds for the major irrigation project during his tenure as Chief Minister Palaniswami said.

The project was, however, implemented by the DMK government, and it became operational in August 2024.

Instead, he chose to participate in the bicycle distribution function where the photos of late Chief Minister M Karunanidhi and present Chief Minister M K Stalin were prominently displayed, Palaniswamy said.

"This shows that he had started the work of the B team from that time onwards," Palaniswami said, displaying a picture of Sengottaiyan at the cycle distribution event and justified his removal.

The former minister and nine-time MLA from Gobichettipalayam was removed from the party on October 31 after he made an appearance at the Muthuramalinga Thevar's 118th birth anniversary and guru puja celebrations at Pasumpon in Ramanathapuram district, with ousted leaders O Panneerselvam and T T V Dhinakaran and later met V K Sasikala.

“It's not my decision but it's the unanimous decision of the party's general council, which expelled him for anti-party activities. This decision is final and binding,” Palaniswami said.

Sengottaiyan had associated with O Pannerselvam who was keen on ensuring a second innings to the DMK and also expelled leaders: V K Sasikala, who conferred a party post upon (her nephew) T T V Dhinakaran, who was removed from the party by Jayalalithaa herself, Palaniswamy said.

He accused Sengottaiyan of behaving like a "local chieftain" in his own district and that was why the AIADMK members were celebrating his removal from the party.