Two men with a 51-year bond between them. How the tides have turned.
Edappadi K Palaniswami recently relieved former minister KA Sengottaiyan from all posts in the AIADMK. It was the latest chapter in the turmoil gripping Tamil Nadu's recently-forged NDA alliance.
The cracks first came out in the open when ex-Chief Minister O Panneerselvam quit the NDA on September 1. Two days later, on September 3, it was TTV Dhinakaran's turn. And then came Sengottaiyan's call for uniting the AIADMK, which led to EPS' action against him on September 7.
The irony is that it was Sengottaiyan, who is believed to have initiated EPS—then a simple jaggery trader— into the AIADMK in 1974.
But then the decision was in keeping with EPS, the leader whom Tamil Nadu has gotten to know better in recent years after his surprising elevation as Chief Minister.
After AIADMK leader and Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's death on December 5, 2016, her 'non-biological sibling' Sasikala Natarajan had taken control of the party and initially made O Panneerselvam (OPS) Chief Minister. OPS had previously held the position twice as a placeholder for Jayalalithaa. But within weeks, when Sasikala desired the Chief Ministership for herself, the usually self-effacing and compliant OPS rebelled. Sasikala's ambition was dealt a further blow when the Supreme Court convicted her. In need of a proxy, Sasikala turned to EPS. He was soon to seize his moment.
EPS now finds himself where Karunanidhi was in 2001
Sasikala, like everyone else, quickly learnt that she had underestimated EPS, who soon proved he was his own man. He reconciled with OPS, making him his deputy and party coordinator, while remaining the joint coordinator. Together, the duo showed the door to Sasikala and Dhinakaran, who was pushed to launch his own party. In the event, EPS stayed as the Chief Minister till the end of the term. The BJP was suspected of being behind all these machinations.
EPS faced the 2021 assembly election alongside the BJP. However, he drew inwards following the defeat. On July 11, 2022, he ended the party's dual leadership by expelling OPS and becoming the AIADMK’s interim general secretary. His supporters argued that the dual leadership had compromised the party's effectiveness.
Nothing prevented EPS from playing the role of an effective opposition leader. Instead, he conceded the space to the BJP and YouTubers, not to mention the governor. On September 25, 2023, EPS ended the alliance with the BJP, only to reunite with them on April 11, 2025. And that set the latest set of events in motion.
If the reasons for the exit had been flimsy, the return was equally baffling. EPS perhaps realised that cutting ties with the BJP did not win over the minorities. His decision may also have stemmed from the need for a substantial war chest to contest the 2026 polls, which the party in power at the Centre could provide. It could also be that actor Vijay refused to be wooed.
With elections less than a year away, EPS began a tour of the state from Coimbatore on July 7. He claimed he was attracting large crowds, which he regarded as a sign of anti-incumbency.
Yet, it remains uncertain whether the grand alliance he has promised will ever materialise. The BJP’s influence weighs down many parties. He is exactly where M Karunanidhi was in 2001 because of his alliance with the BJP.
What AIADMK needs
So, what can EPS do?
EPS needs to reinstate the three Mukkalathors (OPS, Jayalalithaa’s loyal Achates Sasikala and her nephew Dhinakaran) into the AIADMK if it is to regain strength in the southern districts. Even the BJP, which once excluded Sasikala and supported OPS, seems open to this scenario, as in the short term, even it requires a reinforced AIADMK. Its long-term ambitions, however, may not be entirely altruistic.
It was this call that Sengottaiyan, who was the Erode (Suburban-West) District secretary and organisation secretary, made on September 5, 2025, when he publicly set a 10-day deadline for EPS to make the party ‘battle ready’. Sengottaiyan said the AIADMK could only take on the DMK in the 2026 elections by taking steps to re-induct those who were once with the party. Although he didn't name the three, the implications were clear. This went on to lead to his being relieved from all his posts. Sasikala termed the removal as ‘childish’.
Sengottaiyan had said that in the aftermath of the 2024 parliamentary poll defeat, he and Natham R Viswanathan, C Ve Shanmugam, P Thangamani, SP Velumani and KP Anbalagan met Palaniswami and suggested that he readmit the expelled leaders as 'all our electoral strategies are failing in the field'. Sengottaiyan had pointed out how Jayalalithaa had taken back her detractors and even given them sinecure jobs. But EPS wouldn't hear any of this.
EPS' strategy seems to be to cling to the party dearly, even at the cost of the party itself. What EPS doesn’t realise is that there would be no party to cling to if he cannot succeed in the 2026 elections.
Neither MGR nor a Jayalalithaa
The AIADMK was established as an anti-Karunanidhi party. Jayalalithaa strengthened the anti-Karunanidhi forces further. However, as a major Dravidian party, it has moved beyond the anti-Karunanidhi rhetoric, lifting millions out of poverty through its welfare schemes.
So far, it has been the main alternative to the DMK since 1977. It boasts a strong organisational base, probably second only to that of the DMK, and a considerable section of women reminisce about the Jayalalithaa era. EPS must avoid undermining all this completely.
Sengottaiyan may have sounded the final alarm for him. If the AIADMK fails in the 2026 elections, it could mark the start of the party's decline. And EPS can be sure that trouble is imminent.
EPS is neither MGR nor Jayalalithaa. As former minister Thirunavukkarasar once said, MGR was the number one while the others were just zeroes without him. Those who abandoned these two leaders either returned or faded into political obscurity. EPS risks being forgotten in politics if he does not reunite the party.
Both MGR and Jayalalithaa occasionally courted detractors, sometimes unsuccessfully. Both stooped to conquer. MGR wooed Narayanaswamy Naidu of the Farmers Association, whom he jailed, to return to power in the 1980 elections. Jayalalithaa most reluctantly allied with actor Vijayakanth in the 2011 elections. Earlier in 2001, she had extended an olive branch to GK Moopanar, once her arch-nemesis.
No harm in trying
So, there are enough precedents for EPS to follow.
Sasikala is politically a shadow of her former self. Dhinakaran, being much younger and shrewder, could pose a threat, but EPS has now become a seasoned veteran in overcoming dissent. OPS is politically almost finished. What is EPS afraid of? And what does he have to lose?
Does he think his stature would be dented if he now heeds Sengottaiyan?
If, despite the unity, the AIADMK were to fail, EPS will at least not be blamed for not trying. If he wishes to make history, he should fight to the end. Unity could be the remedy to revive a party that has not tasted victory since 2019. EPS has the potential. Will he seize it?
(The author is the biographer of Anna and MGR. His latest work is The DMK Years: Ascent, Descent, Survival.)