Expelled AIADMK veteran Sengottaiyan resigns as MLA amid party rift

Expelled AIADMK leader K A Sengottaiyan on Wednesday tendered his resignation as an MLA from the Gobichettipalayam assembly constituency. The nine-time MLA met Assembly Speaker M Appavu at the Secretariat and submitted his resignation letter, sources said. There is speculation in political circles that Sengottaiyan may either join the actor Vijay-led TVK or the ruling DMK.

However, the veteran leader did not speak to the media after submitting his resignation. In October, AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami expelled Sengottaiyan from the party after he appeared with ousted leaders O Panneerselvam and Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam leader T T V Dhinakaran in Ramanathapuram district. Palaniswami had stated that Sengottaiyan was removed from the primary membership of the party and appealed to party members not to maintain any ties with him. Earlier, Panneerselvam’s loyalist P H Manoj Pandian resigned as MLA from Alangulam constituency in Tenkasi after joining the DMK.