Met Amit Shah to strengthen AIADMK, says Sengottaiyan
The AIADMK leader, who was stripped of his party posts by Palaniswami for giving him an ultimatum of ten days to take back those who left the party, had on Monday claimed to go to the Ram Temple in Haridwar for ‘peace of mind’
Senior AIADMK leader KA Sengottaiyan met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi
COIMBATORE: Senior leader KA Sengottaiyan said on Tuesday that he met senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi to ‘strengthen the AIADMK by uniting all’, comments that are sure to cause consternation in the party and its general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami.
The AIADMK leader, who was stripped of his party posts by Palaniswami for giving him an ultimatum of ten days to take back those who left the party, had on Monday claimed to go to the Ram Temple in Haridwar for ‘peace of mind’.
“I left for Haridwar, and when I reached Delhi, I was granted permission to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. We exchanged views on the current political situation. I told them that everyone (estranged leaders of AIADMK) should unite and the party should be strengthened,” he told the media at Coimbatore International Airport on his return from Delhi.
“While discussing with Amit Shah, I also got an opportunity to meet the Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, to whom I sought to revise the timing of Yercaud Express starting from Erode,” he said.
The political irony of seeking the support of the party leaders who allegedly played a role in fomenting trouble in the AIADMK after J Jayalalithaa’s death was not lost of any, and is unlikely to miss Palaniswami’s attention.
Strikingly, Sengottaiyan’s call for reunion failed to evoke any response from the second-rung leaders in the party. And raising questions about his ability to create an impact with his move, Bhavani Sagar MLA A Bannari, who was identified as a Sengottaiyan loyalist, was among those who called on Palaniswami at his residence in Salem on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, M Thambidurai, a senior leader from the western belt, threw his weight behind Palaniswami on Tuesday, accusing dissenters of undermining party unity.
Will rejoin NDA if Edappadi is not CM face: Dhinakaran
Meanwhile, AMMK leader TTV Dhinakaran said he was willing to return to the NDA, provided the AIADMK nominated someone other than Palaniswami as its CM candidate. “We have no resentment towards anyone except Edappadi Palaniswami and a few of his associates. Other than them, we have no issues with anyone,” he said in Srivilliputhur.
ALSO READ: https://www.dtnext.in/news/tamilnadu/sengottaiyan-camp-in-disarray-as-boss-jets-off-to-himalayas-845994
