Nine-time AIADMK MLA K A Sengottaiyan, recently expelled from the party, joined actor-politician Vijay’s Tamizhaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) in Chennai on Thursday, just a day after resigning as an MLA.
The 77-year-old leader arrived at the TVK headquarters in Panaiyur with a group of supporters, including former MP V Sathyabama, and was received by Vijay himself, according to news agency PTI.
The party founder welcomed Sengottaiyan with a yellow-red TVK shawl, noting “Anna’s” five decades in public life.
Sengottaiyan, a long-time MGR loyalist and former state minister, had entered politics when M G Ramachandran founded the AIADMK in 1972 after breaking away from the DMK and its then president M Karunanidhi.
Also Read | Sengottaiyan resigns as MLA, meets Vijay ahead of joining TVK
What Sengottaiyan's entry could mean?
Within TVK, his entry is being viewed as a strategic gain, especially in the Kongu belt.
{{/usCountry}}Within TVK, his entry is being viewed as a strategic gain, especially in the Kongu belt.
{{/usCountry}}Party insiders believe his influence could bolster TVK’s presence in the eight assembly constituencies of Erode district, his home turf. The broader western region of Tamil Nadu, including Coimbatore and Erode, is known as ‘Kongu.’
Sengottaiyan stepped down as the Gobichettipalayam MLA on November 26. He is the second AIADMK legislator to quit after P H Manoj Pandian, an O Panneerselvam supporter who went on to join the ruling DMK.
His expulsion from the AIADMK came on October 31.
Party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami removed him after he met with ousted leaders Panneerselvam, T T V Dhinakaran, and Dhinakaran’s aunt V K Sasikala in Ramanathapuram, urging that they be brought back into the party fold.
Also Read | Ex-AIADMK veteran Sengottaiyan expected to join Vijay’s TVK soon
Earlier this month, 14 of Sengottaiyan’s supporters, including Sathyabama, were also expelled.
Vijay welcomes Sengottaiyan
Vijay, personally welcoming him, said Sengottaiyan’s “50 years of political experience and dedicated work on the political turf will be a big support to the TVK.”
In a video message, he highlighted that Sengottaiyan first became an MLA at the age of 20, calling him “a symbol of trust for the two great leaders of the AIADMK: MGR and J Jayalalithaa.”
Responding to the development, BJP state president Nainar Nagendran maintained that the BJP-AIADMK alliance remained unaffected.
“Our alliance will not be affected. No matter how many alliances are formed, ours will form the government after the 2026 polls,” he told reporters in Tirunelveli.