"No individual bigger than party": AIADMK's Kovai Sathyan after KA Sengottayan expelled from party roles

Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu) [India], September 7 (ANI): After relieving former minister and senior leader KA Sengottayan from the party responsibilities, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) National spokesperson Kovai Sathyan on Sunday said that everyone in his party is equal and nobody is above or below the rank.
AIADMK General Secretary Edapaddi K Palaniswami also removed six party functionaries from the Erode rural west district. All six functionaries were the supporters of KA Sengottaiyan.
Speaking to ANI, the AIADMK leader said, "The decision of our general secretary is final and binding on all of us, and we all abide by his decision, fully and wholeheartedly supporting it. The actions of EP Azad, the general secretary, resemble how our leader Amma used to act at times. That's what everyone is now talking about inside the party. EPS is the reincarnation of our leader, Amma individual is bigger than a party. Our general secretary has also reiterated many times. The party is driven by his ideology and principles... Everyone at the party is equal. Nobody is above the rank, and nobody is below the rank."
On Saturday, AIADMK general secretary Edapaddi K Palaniswami relieved MLA KA Sengottaiyan from all the posts in the party with "immediate effect".Sengottaiyan, who was the District Organisation Secretary and District Secretary of the Erode Suburban West District, has been removed from the post.
"In the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) Erode Suburban West District: Thiru. K.A. Sengottaiyan, MLA, who has been holding the responsibilities of District Organisation Secretary and District Secretary of the Erode Suburban West District, is hereby relieved of these responsibilities with effect from today," AIADMK said in an official communication.
Responding to the issue, KA Sengottaiyan said the party must unite and return to power to serve the people of Tamil Nadu for the next hundred years, reflecting the wishes of the cadre and the public.
He emphasised that the movement initiated by party founders MG Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa must regain power to serve the people of Tamil Nadu.
"I have expressed a request to unite the party in a way that reflects the wishes of the majority of party cadres and the general public that the great people's movement, the AIADMK, which was founded by Puratchi Thalaivar M.G.R and successfully led by Puratchi Thalaivi Amma, must return to power and continue to serve the people of Tamil Nadu for another hundred years," Sengottaiyan wrote on X.
The decision comes after AIADMK general secretary Palaniswami held a meeting for over an hour with seven senior party leaders and former ministers in a hotel in Dindigul, earlier today.
Former ministers Dindigul Srinivasan, Natham Viswanathan, K.P. Munusamy, S.P. Velumani, Kamaraj, O.S. Manian, and Vijayabaskar were among those who met Palaniswami.
Earlier on Friday, KA Sengottaiyan called for the induction of the expelled leaders, including VK Sasikala, O Panneerselvam, and TTV Dhinakaran, into the party, arguing that it is necessary for the party to win the election.
He said soon after the Lok Sabha election results were announced, senior leaders of the party met AIADMK's general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami and asked for bringing back the leaders who left the party. But EPS did not heed the suggestion, he said.
"I am working to ensure a united AIADMK. Since 2016, the election results have not been in our favour. If we had an alliance with the BJP, we would have won 30 seats in the Parliament election," Sengottaiyan said in a press conference here. (ANI)