AIADMK senior Sengottaiyan denies meeting Dhinakaran

Erode (Tamil Nadu), Sep 25 (PTI) AIADMK senior leader K A Sengottaiyan, who has been batting for a unification of the AIADMK factions, on Thursday denied calling on any political personalities during his Chennai visit.

However, he stressed that the party should remain united to realise the dreams of late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.

“I did not meet anyone during my visit to Chennai on September 24. It was a personal visit to see my wife undergoing treatment in a hospital,” Sengottaiyan told reporters here when asked about his purported meeting with the AMMK general secretary in Chennai on September 24.

After attending to his personal work, he had returned home, he said and denied that there was any political significance in his visit.

“I strongly feel that the AIADMK should remain united to continue the legacy of our founders and ensure the realisation of Amma’s (Jayalalithaa) dream that the party rule lasts for one hundred years,” Sengottaiyan said.

The AIADMK has been encountering numerous challenges since the demise of Jayalalithaa in 2016 including internal power struggle and electoral defeat. At a time when former Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, consolidated his position as party general secretary and firmed up the electoral alliance with the BJP, Sengottaiyan, a former state Minister, sprang a surprise by serving an ultimatum to Palaniswami to reunite the factions.

However, Palaniswami chose to ignore his request and instead stripped him of all party posts. Apart from Sengottaiyan, expelled AIADMK leaders O Panneerselvam, V K Sasikala and her nephew T T V Dhinakaran have been pitching for unity in the party. PTI JSP ROH