CHENNAI: A day after veteran AIADMK leader and former minister KA Sengottaiyan (77) openly joined hands with former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and AMMK general secretary TTV Dhinakaran, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Friday expelled him from the party.
In a statement here, Palaniswami said Sengottaiyan acted in a manner contrary to the party’s policies, objectives and principles. Palaniswami also said that despite being aware that those within the party must not maintain contact with those expelled from it, Sengottaiyan associated himself with such persons.
He added that Sengottaiyan continued to act in ways that tarnished the reputation of the party, violated party discipline, and brought disrepute and disgrace to it. “Sengottaiyan is hereby removed from all responsibilities, including his position as a basic member of the party, with immediate effect. I request that no party member maintain any contact whatsoever with him,” he said.
On September 5, Sengottaiyan set a 10-day deadline for Palaniswami to initiate the process for bringing back those who drifted away from the AIADMK. Later, there were reports that Sengottaiyan met Dhinakaran and Panneerselvam. However, he denied meeting them. At that time, there was speculation that Sengottaiyan had denied his meeting with Panneerselvam and Dhinakaran just to avoid expulsion from the AIADMK.
On Thursday, while paying respects to freedom fighter Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar in Ramanathapuram district, Sengottaiyan openly joined hands with Dhinakaran and Panneerselvam. Following this, Palaniswami held discussions with senior leaders of the party in Salem this afternoon. After that, he expelled Sengottaiyan from the party.
On Thursday, when reporters asked why he was hesitating to expel Sengottaiyan even after he joined hands with Panneerselvam and Dhinakaran, Palaniswami said there was no hesitation and indicated that action would follow. Asked about Palaniswami's remarks, Sengottaiyan said he would be happy if he were expelled from the AIADMK and that he would announce his next course of action.
Sengottaiyan hails from Kullampalayam village near Gobichettipalayam in Erode district. He has been elected as an MLA nine times on behalf of the AIADMK. He was first elected from Sathyamangalam in 1977, and subsequently eight times from Gobichettipalayam.
During the period when the AIADMK split into factions led by Jayalalithaa and Janaki, he contested from Gobichettipalayam on behalf of the Jayalalithaa faction under the rooster symbol and won. He served as the Minister for Forests, Transport, Agriculture, Information Technology, and Revenue.