AIADMK brushes aside Panneerselvam’s deadline for reconciliation

The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), on Tuesday (November 25, 2025), brushed aside the deadline of December 15, as set by the rebel leader and coordinator of the ADMK Workers’ Rights Retrieval Committee coordinator O. Panneerselvam for reconciliation. 

The date assumed importance in the light of the AIADMK having decided to hold its general council meeting in Chennai on December 10. 

R.B. Udhayakumar, Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Assembly and the State secretary of the Amma Peravai, told The Hindu his party general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami had made the AIADMK’s line of thinking very clear as to why Mr. Panneerselvam could not be taken back. “There is nothing more to add,” Mr. Udhayakumar quipped. 

At a meeting of his supporters in Chennai on Monday (November 24) night, Mr. Panneerselvam cautioned Mr. Palaniswami to “correct your ways, else you will be corrected.”

A. Subburathinam, Palani’s former MLA and secretary of the election wing of the committee headed by Mr. Panneerselvam, emphasised his group should be and would be a constituent of the “winning combination.” He recalled that in 1991, Su. Thirunavukkarasar, who had left the AIADMK and was running his own body – Puratchi Thalaivar Tamizhaga Munnetra Kazhagam (APTTMK), struck an electoral deal with the DMK; contested in nine Assembly constituencies and won in two amid the impact of Rajiv Gandhi assassination which tilted the scales heavily in favour of the AIADMK-Congress alliance. Though Mr. Subburathinam did not state explicitly what he meant by “the winning combination,” it was obvious that the DMK-led front was what he had in mind.  

Sengottaiyan to join TVK?

Political circles are also abuzz with the talk of the expelled senior leader of the AIADMK and former School Education Minister K.A. Sengottaiyan, along with his followers, likely to soon join Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), the party led by actor Vijay. Mr. Sengottaiyan, who is also Gobichettipalayam MLA, was not available for comment. 

Meanwhile, Mr. Palaniswami has planned to visit Gobichettipalayam, the hometown of the expelled leader, on November 30 to address a public meeting there. This will be Mr. Palaniswami’s first visit after his action against Mr. Sengottaiyan.