The latest development in Tamil Nadu politics, as it turns murkier with the approaching polls, is veteran AIADMK leader K.A. Sengottaiyan storming into the portals of the nascent Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) to strengthen the hands of actor Vijay in his political expedition. AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami has nothing to say on the development as his party had already expelled the recalcitrant Mr Sengottaiyan some time back. But will his joining hands with Vijay make an impact on the electoral prospects of AIADMK in the 2026 Assembly polls is what everyone wants to know.
The AIADMK is an unshakable monolith that has survived many a political quake is what the party honchos want to tell inquisitive questioners. But is it still? Already splintered and with Mr Palaniswami least interested in bringing back all those who betrayed him or perceived to have betrayed him into the party fold, it is no longer the monolithic edifice to bounce back as it had done in the past, say under the tutelage of J Jayalalithaa.
For Mr Sengottaiyan, with no alternative in the situation he was in, the switch was a smart move as it has opened new frontiers for him. But for AIADMK it could spell doom because Sengottiyan did not just cross over — he was anyway at a crossroads — alone. He could inspire more people from the AIADMK and elsewhere to make the switch without viewing the TVK as an outfit of novices or as an anathema in politics. If that happens, it is the AIADMK’s traditional vote base that would be corroded and in 2026, as Mr Vijay once said, the fight could be confined to TVK and DMK alone.
By purging a hardcore MGR loyalist for lacking the discipline to be totally loyal to the present leader and shutting out a few others like him, the AIADMK seems to be inadvertently working in favour of the DMK, whose vote bank remains intact. So personal games that politicians play are not intriguing but shifting political equations and sending different messages to voters to push for the changes.
(Courtesy: Deccan Chronicle dated Saturday, 29th November 2025)
https://www.deccanchronicle.com/opinion/dc-comment/dc-edit-another-twist-to-tn-politics-1920338
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