NEW DELHI: Both, the O Panneerselvam and E Palaniswami camps that merged recently have staked claim over the AIADMK and its 'two leaves' election symbol before the Election Commission. The Sasikala Natarajan camp which too approached the EC seeking control over the party, will present its case before the poll panel on October 13.
At a hearing that lasted two hours, the EPS-OPS camp told the Election Commission that Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dhinakaran who was appointed deputy general secretary of the AIADMK by her, have been removed from the party and cannot stake claim over it or the party symbol. Their counsel and former attorney general Mukul Rohatgi told the Commission that Dhinakaran was not even a member of the party the day Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa passed away on December 5. In March this year, the Commission in an interim order had barred then rivals OPS and EPS from using the party's name or its election symbol in the RK Nagar assembly by- poll necessitated due to demise of Jayalalithaa. The by- poll which was later cancelled due to alleged bribing of voters is yet to take place.
“All the members of the AIADMK have buried the hatchet and now only Dhinakaran, who claims to have only 18 disqualified MLAs, is on the other side,” Rohatgi said. Dhinakaran had moved the EC, the Madras High Court, and the Supreme Court seeking more time to file fresh affidavits. However, his pleas were rejected by all of them. The SC has directed the EC to decide by November 10 the claim of rival factions over the AIADMK's election symbol and allowed it to proceed with the scheduled hearing in the case.
One of Dhinakaran's counsels N Raja Senthoor Pandian said that the Sasikala camp demanded cross-examination of those who had filed fresh affidavits in support of the EPS-OPS camp. He said the EC accepted to hear the arguments of the Sasikala camp on October 13.
