AIADMK Expels KA Sengottaiyan, VK Sasikala's Aide And Veteran Leader

The AIADMK, Tamil Nadu's main opposition, has expelled veteran leader KA Sengottaiyan from the party's primary membership. Sengottaiyan had pushed for the return of sacked figures like ex-Chief Minister O Panneerselvam; VK Sasikala, party icon Jayalalithaa's aide, and TTV Dhinakaran.

Party workers were told not to have any contact with Sengottaiyan.

The leader did not immediately react; he said he would respond 11 am Saturday.

The Friday evening expulsion came 24 hours after all four leaders - dubbed the BJP's 'B team' - met in southern Tamil Nadu's Ramanathapuram district to pay tribute to Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar, a freedom fighter and historic figure in the politically influential Thevar community.

The meeting was seen as a platform to re-align the AIADMK - specifically, the revival of a Thevar-centric political axis in the southern part of the state - before next year's election.

Both Dhinakaran and OPS belong to that community.

AIADMK boss Edappadi K Palaniswami is from the Gounder community.

READ | Before Poll, Thevar Memorial Sparks Realignment Buzz In Tamil Nadu

Sengottaiyan's comments were seen as a direct challenge to EPS.

There were rumours last month that Sengottaiyan, a nine-time MLA, had given EPS a deadline to forgive-and-forget, and bring back OPS, Sasikala, and Dhinakaran, arguing only a 'united' AIADMK could defeat Chief Minister MK Stalin and the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

Sengottaiyan, and his supporters, were then removed from party posts. That act was met with jibes from Dhinakaran, who called it a "childish act... that does not server party's interests".

Last week Sengottaiyan denied issuing deadlines. He said his remarks were "misinterpreted" and reported inaccurately by some media outlets. "I never said '10-day deadline'... " he said at a private event, "I only said efforts should begin in 10 days and the process could take a month..."

And, asked about reports of confusion within the AIADMK as a result of demands to bring the three back, the ex-School Education minister snapped back, "That is your view."

AIADMK chief Palaniswami had taken a very dim view of Sengottaiyan's demands.

READ | Betrayers Will Be "Isolated": E Palaniswami's Hard Line On Dissidents

In a fierce attack last month, EPS referred "some (people) creating problems" and said, "We have identified them and will soon put an end to it. None can do anything to AIADMK..."

The push to re-include OPS, Sasikala, and Dhinakaran, has been seen as a battle over Jayalalithaa's legacy, and an attempt to reset the party to when it was successful; the late actor-politician was Chief Minister for over 14 years between 1991 and 2016, when she died.

Since her death, the party has slipped to three consecutive election losses; the 2019 and 2024 parliamentary polls and the 2021 Assembly poll, and many expect it to lose next year too.

The AIADMK has tied up with on-again, off-again allies the Bharatiya Janata Party for this election, renewing a relationship that broke, spectacularly in September 2023.

RECAP | AIADMK, BJP Team Up Again For Tamil Nadu Polls Under EPS' Hand

But that alliance has been questioned by many within the party, including Sengottaiyan, amid calls for the AIADMK, which dominates the state's political landscape with the DMK, to return to its roots. EPS, though, has argued that it was, in fact, the BJP that 'saved' the AIADMK after "some tried to hijack the party (a tacit swipe at OPS and his rivals) after Jayalalithaa's death".

The BJP, meanwhile, has maintained its distance from this squabble, insisting it is an internal issue, a 'party conflict', and that it is only focusing on fighting the election with the AIADMK.

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