K.A. Sengottaiyan, who has been relieved of positions in the AIADMK, such as organisation secretary and Erode (Suburban-West) district secretary, is known as a steadfast loyalist, despite having been sidelined by the party leadership more than once.
In the early 1970s, he began his career in public life as the president of the Kullampalayam panchayat unit (which was then in the Coimbatore district) of the AIADMK. A nine-time legislator, the 77-year-old leader was first elected from the Sathyamangalam Assembly constituency in 1977 when the AIADMK captured power for the first time. Three years later, he shifted to his native place, Gobichettiyapalaym (in Erode district), from where he won eight times. In the 1996 elections, he tasted his only defeat.
