Willing to strike, but afraid to wound. This seems to be the thinking of AIADMK leaders towards former Minister K.A. Sengottaiyan, who discussed issues concerning the party with Union Ministers Amit Shah and Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi on Monday night.
On Friday last, the former Minister, who till recently held the posts of Erode (Suburban-West) District secretary and organisation secretary, set a 10-day deadline for general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami to initiate the process of unifying all those who left the party. On Tuesday, he told journalists that he had met the Union Ministers and discussed unification of the AIADMK factions, among other issues.
A few senior leaders of the party, while expressing their discomfort with Mr. Sengottaiyan’s action, are, however, guarded in saying whether any disciplinary action will be taken against the rebel leader. “He is one of the senior-most leaders. Should he have to do anything at this stage of his career which will embarrass the party leadership?” is the refrain of the leaders in their interaction with this journalist. The leaders also point out that there has not been any response from the Union Ministers. “Even assuming that the discussion has taken place on the internal affairs of the AIADMK, it is not yet known publicly what Mr. Shah and Ms. Sitharaman have conveyed to him.”
One of them refers to the participation of BJP Deputy Leader in the Assembly Vanathi Srinivasan in Mr. Palaniswami’s tour of the Thondamuthur Assembly constituency in Coimbatore district on Tuesday evening. Another, who hails from the western region (to which Mr. Sengottaiyan also belongs), says that just like the dissident leader’s press conference last week, his meetings with the Union Ministers, too, “constitute an act of violation” of the party discipline, as he has not obtained Mr. Palaniswami’s approval. “There is nothing wrong in meeting the Ministers in New Delhi to represent people’s issues but propriety and decency demand that one take the party chief’s approval,” he says.
There is also a view in the party that going by the organisation’s history, anyone, however big he or she may be, is consigned to oblivion once the person crosses the red line. “The institution is greater than any individual. V.R. Nedunchezhian, who was no. 2 in the Cabinets headed by DMK founder C.N. Annadurai and AIADMK founder M.G. Ramachandran, could not poll even 600 votes in Mylapore in the 1989 Assembly election when he contested as an Independent. Leaders, including S.D. Somasundaram, R.M. Veerappan and S. Thirunavukkarasar, could not sustain their campaign against the AIADMK for long,” according to one of the leaders.
Meanwhile, Mr. Palaniswami has expelled two functionaries from the party and removed four others from their posts. Some of the office-bearers in question are perceived to be supporters of Mr. Sengottaiyan.
