Earning the wrath of the AIADMK leadership and stripped of the party posts for batting for the homecoming of expelled leaders, heading their won factions, dissident leader K A Sengottaiyan on Tuesday met Union ministers Amit Shah and Nirmala Sitharaman in the national capital.
On his arrival from New Delhi, he told reporters at the airport that he discussed the political situation in the state and the need to unify all the factions of the AIADMK. He confirmed that the discussions with both the BJP stalwarts were on the emerging political situation in Tamil Nadu.
“I left for Haridwar seeking peace. But, on landing in New Delhi, I got an appointment with Shah and Sitharaman. I shared with them my views on readmitting the expelled leaders so as to strengthen the party ahead of the 2026 assembly election,” Sengottaiyan, MLA from Gobichettipalayam, added but didn’t take any questions and left.
Last Friday, he issued an ultimatum to AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS), currently on a state-wide campaign, to initiate the steps within ten days to facilitate the home coming of ousted leaders or else, he would carry on the task with like-minded leaders. He was batting for the readmission of VK Sasikala, confidant of late Jayalalithaa, former Deputy CM, O Panneerselvam (OPS) running the AIADMK Workers Rights Retrieval Committee and Sasikala’s nephew, TTV Dhinakaran, heading the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK).
Taking this as a challenge to his leadership and a gauntlet thrown at him, EPS, relieved Sengottaiyan from the post of AIADMK Organising Secretary and Erode (Rural) District Secretary. However, the ousted leaders have welcomed this and OPS and DHinakaran have said that they would meet Sengottaiyan after the 10-day deadline.
With the chaos in the NDA getting murkier and the turmoil in AIADMK, heading the alliance in Tamil Nadu deepening, the BJP national leadership had summoned BJP state unit president Nainar Nagenthiran to Delhi for discussions. He is leaving for the national capital on Thursday. This comes in the wake of the war of words between Dhinakaran and Nainar after the former had exited the NDA, squarely blaming the latter for it.