Sengottaiyan stays off EPS meet over missing pics, triggers rumours

D Jayakumar says Athikadavu project ceremony not organised by party

- P SRINIVASAN / T MURUGANANDAM @Erode/Chennai

AIADMK leader and former minister KA Sengottaiyan, who is generally known for his restraint, said he did not attend the felicitation function organised by farmers to thank party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami for the Athikadavu-Avinashi project because the pictures of AIADMK's founder MG Ramachandran and former CM J Jayalalithaa were missing in the invitation card and banners.

On behalf of Athikadavu-Avinashi project farmers, the felicitation was held in Annur in Coimbatore on Sunday, which was skipped by Sengottaiyan, a longtime advocate of the project, leading to murmurs of discontent against EPS in the party circles.

Addressing reporters in Erode on Monday, Sengottaiyan said he told four farmers from the organising committee about the missing photographs when they met him three days before the ceremony.

Pointing out that it was Jayalalithaa who initially allotted ₹3.72 crore for the project in 2011, he said the invitation did not include the pictures of former speaker P Dhanapal and former Minister KV Ramalingam, who had voiced support for the project. "Their portraits are not on the advertising banners also," he said, adding, "I did not boycott the ceremony. I didn't participate in the ceremony, that's all."