From AIADMK Organisation Secretary to fledgling TVK’s Chief Coordinator: KA Sengottaiyan teams up with Vijay

Having spent half a century of his political career in the AIADMK, former minister KA Sengottaiyan, who was expelled from the party, has teamed up with Vijay and been appointed as the Chief Coordinator of film-star-turned-politician’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK).

From being the AIADMK’s Organisation Secretary before being thrown out in the cold for throwing the gauntlet at his bete noire and AIADMK general Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS), he has now become the Chief Coordinator of the TVK after joining the party on Thursday, along with a few of his prominent supporters, including former MP Sathyabama and two former legislators.

Advertisement

Old habits die hard, and Sengottaiyan kept a photograph of the late Jayalalithaa in his pocket even as he stepped inside the TVK headquarters at Suburban Panaiyur. After taking a pledge, he was presented with a shawl by Vijay and a scarf with the TVK party’s colours. In a video message posted on the TVK’s ‘X’ handle, Vijay was effusive in his praise of Sengottaiyan, saying that his long stint in politics and 45 years as a legislator would stand the party in good stead. The TVK has declared the BJP its ideological enemy and the ruling DMK its political adversary.

Appointing the new entrant as the Chief Coordinator of the TVK’s High-level State Executive Committee, Vijay, in a statement, described him as a senior leader who had “worked with two stalwarts of Tamil Nadu (MGR and Jayalalithaa), instrumental in the growth and development of his community, known for his simplicity and highly regarded by one and all.” He has given him the additional responsibility of TVK’s Organisation Secretary, in charge of the four crucial Western districts of Erode, Coimbatore, Tirupur, and The Nilgiris.

Later, at a media briefing, Sengottaiyan explained that he was drawn towards Vijay since he is taking the initiative to have cleaner politics. “People have accepted him as they desire an honest government. Reposing their faith in my brother Vijay, they are ready to hand a massive victory for the TVK. Children are urging their parents to vote for Vijay. There will be a people’s revolution in the 2026 assembly election,” he said, adding, “Vijay had built this massive people’s movement to bring about political change.” He also denied that DMK Minister Sekarbabu had met him and that none from the BJP had approached him.

While EPS has axed the 77-year-old veteran, who had joined the AIADMK as a 20-year-old and earned the affection of MGR and later Jayalalithaa, the TVK has welcomed with open arms the nine-time legislator in his greying years, considering his vast experience and network. Hailing from the dominant OBC Goundar community in Western Tamil Nadu, known as the Kongu belt, it is expected that he could help strengthen the TVK in that region.

Sengottaiyan is the first senior leader of a major political party to join the TVK, and whether this results in a domino effect of bringing more into its fold remains to be seen. It is also speculated that former Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and TTV Dhinakaran of the AMMK are likely to join the TVK bandwagon as the AIADMK has shut the doors on them, and the BJP, which they had put their hopes on, has turned the other way.