Chennai: From humble beginnings as a Panchayat leader in Kullapalayam village in Coimbatore during the 1970s, veteran politician K A Sengottaiyan has built an enduring political career spanning over five decades in Tamil Nadu.
Born in 1948, Sengottaiyan entered public life at a young age and rose quickly through the ranks. His political journey took a decisive turn in 1977 when, at the age of 29, he was elected MLA from the Sathyamangalam constituency during the wave that brought the MG Ramachandran-led AIADMK to power.
A loyalist of the AIADMK through its formative years, Sengottaiyan later aligned closely with J Jayalalithaa, serving in several key positions across multiple party tenures. Among his most notable roles was his stint as Revenue Minister, where he handled significant administrative responsibilities.
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During the tenure of former Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, he was appointed School Education Minister and is credited with introducing a series of policy reforms in the education sector.
However, his long association with the AIADMK came to an abrupt pause in November 2025, following reported differences with the party leadership. He was expelled from the party and later joined the Vijay-led TVK, where his decades of administrative and electoral experience were seen as a major addition to the party's expanding base.
In the most recent assembly election held on April 23, Sengottaiyan secured a decisive victory from Sathyamangalam, defeating his nearest rival N Nallasivam of the DMK by 16,620 votes, polling a total of 82,612 votes.
Along with Vijay, nine TVK leaders also took oath as ministers in the party's maiden cabinet. The ministers included N Anand, Aadhav Arjuna, KA Sengottaiyan, KG Arunraj, P Venkataramanan, R Nirmalkumar, Rajmohan, TK Prabhu and S Keerthana. Ahead of the ceremony, Vijay personally welcomed Governor Arlekar and introduced him to the ministers-designate.
The 2026 Tamil Nadu elections were registered in history books after the state declared an unprecedented mandate for Vijay. While TVK ended up winning 108 out of 234 seats in its maiden political stint, it was for the first time in the history of state politics that both legacy 'Dravidian' parties were ousted from power.
However, Vijay couldn't attain majority on its own and was later offered support by Congress (5), CPM (2), CPI (2), VCK (2) and IUML (2), which were earlier the allies of Secular Progressive Alliance led by DMK.
Vijay, often referred to as the 'Thalapathy', showed a crowd-pulling ability in the election rallies, which many compared to actor-turned-politician and former CM MG Ramachandran. While Tamil Nadu has had a long history of actors entering and conquering politics, the State awaited another star to step up in the line after Captain Vijayakanth.