ERODE: Launching a direct broadside against AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, expelled senior leader KA Sengottaiyan on Saturday said, EPS is the real traitor, acting as the 'B' team of DMK, and a Nobel Prize for 'betrayal' can be given to him. The Gopichettipalayam MLA also said that he would launch a legal battle against his expulsion after consulting legal experts and added that his loyalty to AIADMK would continue.
Addressing the press at Gobichettipalayam on Saturday, after being removed from the party, he accused EPS of violating party norms by removing him without asking for an explanation. He said that he would start a legal battle against his expulsion.
Sengottaiyan said, “I have worked for the party for 53 years. I have continuously worked for the unity of the party. Our pioneer leader, J Jayalalithaa, acknowledged my work for the party. I had two opportunities to rise to a higher position because of my work for the party, but I gave them up for the party’s unity.”
He added, "The AIADMK has been facing a series of defeats in all elections since EPS took over as General Secretary of the party. For the party to return to the path of victory and gain strength, we, six key functionaries, went to the EPS and insisted on unifying the key functionaries who had been expelled from the party. Even after that, he did not listen to it. I met him personally twice again and insisted. But he did not listen to that either. Because of that, I expressed the opinion publicly on September 5. But I did not impose any deadline on him. However, it was spread incorrectly that I had imposed a deadline."
He further said, "In this situation, to strengthen the AIADMK, I met those who were expelled from the party during the Muthuramalinga Thevar's Jayanti. But, he has expelled me by saying that I am acting as the B team of DMK. But he is the real traitor, acting as the B team of DMK. He is the A1 and continuing to act like an A1. This can be understood from the fact that DMK did not take action in the Kodanad case."
“My loyalty to AIADMK will continue, and I would like to continue as an AIADMK man,” he added.
Meanwhile, a large number of Sengottaiyan's supporters had arrived at his Kullampalayam house. Sengottaiyan met them and consulted them.
TTV Dhinakaran slams Palaniswami over Sengottaiyan’s expulsion
MADURAI: Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) general secretary TTV Dhinakaran on Friday launched a blistering attack on AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) over the expulsion of senior party leader KA Sengottaiyan, calling the move an act of betrayal and arrogance.
Speaking to reporters after addressing an AMMK functionaries’ meeting in Sholavandhan, Madurai district, Dhinakaran said Sengottaiyan had been associated with the AIADMK since its inception in 1972 and had continuously served as an MLA and senior administrator. He recalled that Sengottaiyan was closely involved in ensuring J Jayalalithaa’s security and logistical arrangements during her tours and public events.
Referring to Sengottaiyan’s recent meeting with him and O Panneerselvam at Pasumpon during Thevar Jayanthi, Dhinakaran clarified that it was not a political event. “Every year, Sengottaiyan would visit Pasumpon on behalf of Amma for the Guru Pooja. Meeting us there was purely out of respect for Thevar, not politics,” he said.
Accusing Palaniswami of betraying loyalists, Dhinakaran said, “If there were a Nobel Prize for betrayal, it should go to Edappadi K Palaniswami.” He added that the AIADMK had been reduced to chaos under EPS leadership.
EPS would face a crushing defeat in TN assembly elections
He further charged that Palaniswami, who expelled VK Sasikala—the person who made him Chief Minister—and the 18 MLAs who supported him, had no moral right to brand others as traitors. “Removing Sengottaiyan from the party is like rubbing ash on one’s own head. EPS lacks even the courage to face us directly,” Dhinakaran remarked.
Dhinakaran said it was his decisions that helped the DMK return to power in 2021. “The man who calls us the B-Team of the DMK is the very reason the DMK came to power,” he said, predicting that southern Tamil Nadu voters would deliver a strong message in the next election.
Dhinakaran warned that EPS would face a crushing defeat in the upcoming polls. “Those who betray their own will soon face their downfall. The destruction of arrogance is certain,” he said.
When asked if actor Vijay would be the “weapon” to defeat Palaniswami, Dhinakaran replied cryptically, “Weapons are drawn only on the battlefield. Wait three months and watch—it will be revealed in the elections.”
