AIADMK leader Sengottaiyan sets an ultimatum of ten days for EPS to take back estranged factions

COIMBATORE: Disgruntled AIADMK leader K A Sengottaiyan on Friday gave an ultimatum of ten days to AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami to reunite estranged factions of the party.

Reiterating that AIADMK could achieve victory in the 2026 assembly polls, only if we forgive, forget, and take back the estranged factions, Sengottaiyan said in Erode that those who left are ready to come back without any conditions.

“If that reconciliation doesn’t happen, Amma’s rule as desired by the people of this nation may not blossom again in Tamil Nadu. If my demands are not met within ten days, those in my mindset will come together and take efforts towards reuniting them successfully,” he said, in an apparent reference to TTV Dhinakaran, VK Sasikala, and O Panneerselvam, but without naming anyone.

In a further expression of dissent, Sengottaiyan said he will not participate in Palaniswami’s poll campaign until unification. “The party’s general secretary could decide on whom all should be taken back, and I don’t have a difference of opinion. It should be those who held prominent positions in AIADMK. You could see the current position of the party in the southern districts,” he said.

“I got two opportunities, but I continued with my work with the intention that the party shouldn’t break away. I was then ready to do any sacrifice for the sake of our crores of cadres. EPS turned down earlier efforts by me, along with other functionaries, for reunion,” he said, adding that the party faced continuous defeats in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, 2021 assembly polls, and 2024 Lok Sabha polls and in local body polls.