Searching for political relevance and to be afloat, expelled AIADMK veteran KA Sengottaiyan is likely to join the fledgling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) of actor-politician Vijay, while former Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam (OPS) is actively exploring that option, according to sources close to them.
Axed for raising a rebellion against AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) by holding out an ultimatum to readmit previously expelled leaders — late Jayalalithaa’s confidante VK Sasikala, her nephew TTV Dhinakaran, heading the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK), and OPS — Sengottaiyan, currently MLA of Gobichettipalayam, has been looking for greener pastures.
Similar is the case with OPS, leading the AIADMK Workers Rights Retrieval Committee, and TTV.
Both TTV and OPS, who were part of the NDA in the 2024 LS poll, have walked out of the combine on realising that the BJP is not interested in rehabilitating them in the AIADMK. This became very clear after EPS took the AIADMK back into the NDA fold for the coming Assembly election. Now, left in the cold, they have little option other than Vijay, say analysts.
With Vijay remaining firm in not teaming up with the BJP and those aligned with the saffron party, he has apparently shut the doors on the AIADMK but is not averse to accommodating leaders with some standing crossing over to the TVK, which has positioned itself as the alternative to the ruling DMK. Sources close to the trio—Sengottaiyan, OPS, and TTV—maintain that joining hands with TVK is actively considered, as it will give them the required heft. The option of being part of the ruling DMK-led alliance is unthinkable and will prove to be the end of their political career, it is pointed out.
EPS resuming his second leg of the statewide campaign from Gobichettipalayam, the home turf of Sengottaiyan, on November 30 is seen as an apparent snub to the expelled leader. Hence, his supporters would like him to join the TVK ahead of that, according to reports. Whether this would pave the way for OPS and TTV to team up with Vijay remains to be seen. And sources in the TVK say that the leadership is not averse to leaders with experience in electoral politics entering the party, as it would strengthen it.