AIADMK veteran Sengottaiyan buries the hatchet, praises Edappadi's good governance

COIMBATORE: Senior AIADMK leader KA Sengottaiyan on Friday put an end to speculations about rift with the party’s general secretary ‘Edappadi’ K Palaniswami by praising his good governance and comparing it to that of MGR and Jayalalithaa.

“Former chief ministers MGR and J Jayalalithaa were the best rulers in Tamil Nadu. Following in their footsteps, Palaniswami also governed the state well,” he said, while addressing a protest to condemn Forest Minister Ponmudy for his recent derogatory remarks on women.

Speculations about an internal rift surfaced after Sengottaiyan expressed displeasure over the omission of the pictures of former chief ministers MGR and Jayalalithaa from an invitation and banners for a function in Coimbatore to felicitate Palaniswami for implementing the Athikadavu-Avinashi Scheme. He subsequently skipped the event.

The rift grew since then and was even displayed openly. However, Sengottaiyan finally appears to have had a change of mind and buried the hatchet, following the party’s alliance with the BJP. This is the first time in over two months, Sengottaiyan had made a direct mention of Palaniswami.

Exuding confidence that the AIADMK will win by a majority in all the constituencies in the 2026 assembly polls and form the government, Sengottaiyan also urged cadres to work hard for the party’s success.

Strikingly, the flex banner put up behind the stage also had a picture of Palaniswami, almost similar in size to the party’s stalwarts MGR and Jayalalithaa. It also attributed the conduct of the protest against Ponmudy on the orders of Palaniswami.