CHENNAI: Nine-time AIADMK legislator KA Sengottaiyan resigned from the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Wednesday, triggering intense speculation about his next political move.
Sengottaiyan met Assembly Speaker M Appavu at the State Secretariat and submitted a handwritten resignation letter, which the Speaker is expected to accept shortly.
Political circles are abuzz that the 72-year-old leader may join the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), though the ruling DMK has also made a strong bid to bring him into its fold. Shortly after the resignation, HR and CE Minister PK Sekarbabu held discussions with Sengottaiyan.
Ahead of the meeting with the Speaker, when asked whether he was joining TVK, the former minister declined to confirm the speculation, saying only, “Please wait for a day.”
Speaking to TNIE, former MLA Anwar Raaja, who recently joined DMK after being expelled from the AIADMK, said, “The right place for Sengottaiyan now is the DMK, because the DMK and AIADMK share common ideologies.”
A former MLA aligned with O Panneerselvam blamed the BJP for the veteran’s decision to leave the AIADMK. He accused the party of “giving false hopes about unification of the AIADMK” and then abandoning its efforts.
“If Sengottaiyan joins TVK, it is highly unfortunate. For a leader with 45 years of legislative experience, working under Vijay, who has no political experience, is a mockery of his vast experience,” he said.
Sengottaiyan openly rebelled against AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on September 5, urging him to initiate measures to reinduct expelled leaders including former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, TTV Dhinakaran and VK Sasikala.
He had said it was imperative to bring back all expelled leaders to the AIADMK fold to prevent further electoral defeats. However, he was immediately stripped of his party posts as a disciplinary measure.
Sengottaiyan, who hails from Kullampalayam near Gobichettipalayam in Erode district, is among the longest-serving legislators in Tamil Nadu. First elected from Sathyamangalam in 1977, he went on to win eight more times from Gobichettipalayam, losing only once in the 1996 AIADMK rout under the leadership of J. Jayalalithaa.
During the split between the Jayalalithaa and Janaki factions, he contested and won under the Rooster symbol representing the Jayalalithaa camp. Over his long political career, Sengottaiyan has held key portfolios, including Forests, Transport, Agriculture, School Education, IT, and Revenue.