COIMBATORE: AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami in Erode on Saturday trained his guns on TVK leader KA Sengottaiyan accusing him of working in tandem with the DMK to weaken the AIADMK.

Addressing a campaign rally in Gobichettipalayam, Sengottaiyan’s political stronghold, Palaniswami alleged that the veteran leader had displayed arrogance and betrayal and acted as a covert ally of the DMK.

He cited a photograph showing Sengottaiyan sharing the stage with DMK functionaries, claiming it demonstrated that he had long functioned as the party’s “B team.”

Palaniswami further accused Sengottaiyan of maintaining silence against the DMK in the assembly. “A person with such duplicity has no place in the AIADMK. You treated the people of this constituency like slaves,” he said, adding that Sengottaiyan’s political rise was due to the toil of the party cadre.

The AIADMK leader also claimed that Sengottaiyan’s family had once approached former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa with serious complaints against him. Expressing regret over appointing Sengottaiyan as a minister during his tenure, Palaniswami said, “Placing my trust in him was a mistake.”

Responding to Sengottaiyan’s past assertion that he had an opportunity to become Chief Minister, Palaniswami countered by saying, “Not a single MLA backed him, whereas I assumed office with the support of legislators. He was denied that opportunity because he was rejected by Jayalalithaa herself,” he said.