Sengottaiyan stripped of AIADMK posts after daring EPS with deadline
The action followed a closed-door meeting Palaniswami held in Dindigul earlier in the day with senior leaders KP Munusamy, SP Velumani, C Vijayabaskar, Kamaraj, Natham R Viswanathan and Dindigul C Srinivasan.
CHENNAI: AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Saturday moved swiftly to clip the wings of veteran leader KA Sengottaiyan, relieving him of all key organisational responsibilities a day after he issued a public ultimatum to the high command.
A terse party release announced that the 77-year-old Gobichettipalayam MLA, a nine-time legislator and former Minister, was being removed from his positions as the party’s organisation secretary and as Erode (Rural West) district secretary with immediate effect.
The action followed a closed-door meeting Palaniswami held in Dindigul earlier in the day with senior leaders KP Munusamy, SP Velumani, C Vijayabaskar, Kamaraj, Natham R Viswanathan and Dindigul C Srinivasan.
In a further show of force, six functionaries in the Erode (Rural West) district unit known to be Sengottaiyan loyalists were also stripped of their responsibilities. They included Thambi alias KA Subramanian (Nambiyur North Union secretary), M Eswaramoorthy alias Chennai Mani (Nambiyur South Union secretary), ND Kurinjinathan (Gobichettipalayam West Union secretary), M Devaraj (Anthiyur North Union secretary), SS Ramesh (Athani town secretary), Velu alias Thaa. Marudhamuthu (Athani town deputy secretary), and KS Mohankumar (Erode division IT wing deputy secretary).
The disciplinary crackdown came less than 24 hours after Mr. Sengottaiyan demanded that the party reopen its doors to estranged leaders within 10 days if it hoped to regain its past strength ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections. Throwing down the gauntlet, he had warned that like-minded leaders would unite and act on their own if the leadership failed to respond.
“The general secretary can decide who should return, but leaders who held key responsibilities must be reinstated,” Sengottaiyan said on Friday, invoking precedents set by founder MG Ramachandran and former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, who had rehabilitated critics such as SD Somasundaram and Kalimuthu in the interests of party unity.
The disciplinary measure underscores Palaniswami’s determination to assert control and signals that public dissent will not be tolerated within the AIADMK.
