Sengottaiyan Joins Vijay’s TVK a Day After Quitting as AIADMK MLA
Massive blow to Palaniswami as veteran leader joins actor’s rising party.
In a seismic political upheaval that has stunned Tamil Nadu’s political landscape, K A Sengottaiyan, a towering figure with nine Assembly victories and over four decades of unbroken association with the AIADMK, formally enrolled in actor Thalapathy Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) at a high-profile event in Chennai on Thursday, just twenty-four hours after resigning his Gobichettipalayam Assembly seat and days after being expelled from his parent party.
The 77-year-old leader, long regarded as one of the most influential voices from the Kongu belt, had tendered his resignation to Speaker M Appavu at the Secretariat on Wednesday, capping a rapid sequence of events that began with his open revolt against AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami and culminated in his complete severance from the party founded by MGR and Jayalalithaa.
Sengottaiyan’s rebellion had ignited on September 5 when he issued a scathing public statement demanding the immediate reinstatement of expelled stalwarts O Panneerselvam, VK Sasikala, and TTV Dhinakaran, warning that Palaniswami’s refusal to reunite all factions was steering the AIADMK toward irreversible electoral oblivion and betraying the ideological legacy of its iconic founders.
Also Read: AIADMK Veteran K.A. Sengottaiyan Resigns, Fuelling Talk of Move to Vijay’s TVK
Stripped of all party posts within hours and formally expelled shortly thereafter, Sengottaiyan had initially vowed to challenge the action in court, denouncing it as unconstitutional and reflective of authoritarian control, but ultimately opted for a bolder political realignment by throwing his considerable organisational weight behind Vijay’s TVK, instantly transforming the nascent party into a serious contender in western Tamil Nadu.
Political observers describe the defection as a devastating setback for Edappadi Palaniswami, who now faces the erosion of a key regional stronghold, and a monumental coup for Vijay, whose TVK gains not merely a recognisable face but a seasoned strategist with deep grassroots networks, sending a clear message that the 2026 Assembly battlefield will witness an intense three-way fight among DMK, a weakened AIADMK, and a rapidly ascending TVK.
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