Sengottaiyan stays off EPS meet over missing pics, triggers rumours
ERODE/CHENNAI: AIADMK leader and former minister KA Sengottaiyan, who is generally known for his restraint, said he did not attend the felicitation function organised by farmers to thank party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami for the Athikadavu - Avinashi project because the pictures of AIADMK’s founder MG Ramachandran and former CM J Jayalalithaa were missing in the invitation card and banners.
On behalf of Athikadavu - Avinashi project farmers, the felicitation was held in Annur in Coimbatore on Sunday, which was skipped by Sengottaiyan, a longtime advocate of the project, leading to murmurs of discontent against EPS in the party circles.
Addressing reporters in Erode on Monday, Sengottaiyan said he told four farmers from the organising committee about the missing photographs when they met him three days before the ceremony.
Pointing out that it was Jayalalithaa who initially allotted `3.72 crore for the project in 2011, he said the invitation did not include the pictures of former speaker P Dhanapal and former Minister KV Ramalingam, who had voiced support for the project. “Their portraits are not on the advertising banners also,” he said, adding, “I did not boycott the ceremony. I didn’t participate in the ceremony, that’s all”.
SMR Natarajan, coordinator of the Athikadavu - Avinashi project farmers, said, “We have great respect for Sengottaiyan. At the same time, no one can force us to use pictures of leaders on event invitations because it was an event organised by farmers and the public.”
“We tried to get his appointment long before the ceremony. But we were able to meet him only after 95 % of the work for the ceremony was completed,” he added. He’s not one to skip an event for missing portraits and there may be political reasons, another key farmer’s leader said.
While AIADMK functionaries from Erode are tight-lipped, AIADMK organising secretary D Jayakumar, who spoke to media in Chennai, downplayed the remarks of Sengottaiyan, saying the felicitation was organised by farmers belonging to all parties in an apolitical manner.
Sengottaiyan’s remarks came a day after a video of former minister and AIADMK leader S Gokula Indira went viral on social media, in which she is heard expressing concern that she has been ignored by party functionaries. She said she never acted against the directive of the general secretary and never interfered in election works.
When asked about her comments, Jayakumar said it was made at an internal meeting of the party.
A senior leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, the party has been facing such issues in the past few years, but eventually kept overcoming them.