Vellore MP faces locals’ ire for switching sides

He was elected to the lower house of the parliament in 2014. After the death of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, he supported the O Panneerselvam camp when he rebelled against the VK Sasikala faction. When the latter was jailed, Sengutuvan continued to support OPS. When the O Panneerselvam faction merged with the CM Edappadi Palaniswami faction, Senguttuvan switched sides and announced his support to the sidelined AIADMK leader TTV Dinakaran. 

However, when the merged AIADMK was allocated the party’s two leaves symbol by the Election Commission, Senguttuvan again switched over the EPS/OPS faction. 

When Dinakaran emerged victorious in the recent RK Nagar by-election, Senguttuvan was one of the first to call on him thereby switching his allegiance to sidelined leader again. 

Such chameleon-like changes have irked locals who voted for him. “What has the MP done for the constituency, where there are so many issues popping up every other day?” questions V Sekar of Sathuvacheri. “Though we voted for the two leaves symbol and not for him personally, we felt he would work for the development of the constituency as he was chosen by J Jayalalithaa. But her death has changed everything,” said Jennifer of Otteri. 

However, Senguttuvan remained unfazed when asked about the matter. “We are all in the united AIADMK and I have not done anything wrong,” he said. Asked about his switching over to TTV Dinakaran camp after his RK Nagar win, he said, “I only went to invite him to return to the parent AIADMK as we should continue to be the strongest party in the state.”