EPS camp moves SC AIADMK party symbol ahead of bypoll
The petition also sought for a direction to the poll body to recognise EPS as the sole leader of Tamil Nadu’s principal opposition party.
Chennai: The fight for AIADMK’s two-leaves party symbol intensified on Friday as the faction led by former chief minister Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) filed a petition in the Supreme Court, seeking a direction to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to allot it the symbol, people familiar with the development said.
The petition also sought for a direction to the poll body to recognise EPS as the sole leader of Tamil Nadu’s principal opposition party.
The petition came weeks after the apex court reserved its judgment on a batch of petitions relating to the tussle between the two factions —led by EPS and O Panneerselvam (OPS) — over the leadership of the AIADMK on January 11. Both factions have claimed their rights to the two-leaves party symbol ahead of the by-election to the Erode East assembly seat on February 27.
Among the petitions includes OPS’s plea challenging the Madras high court’s order allowing EPS to continue as the party’s interim general secretary.
“As of date, the prevailing situation is that the party is led by EPS. The division bench’s order (of the Madras high court) is clear about the election of EPS as interim general secretary and the expulsion of OPS and his supporters,” senior AIADMK leader and former state minister D Jayakumar told reporters. “We are 1000% confident that the two-leaves (symbol) will be allotted to us. There is no doubt about that.”
Decision on the party symbol has become crucial after the OPS faction last week announced that it will also field a candidate for the upcoming bypoll. According to the ECI earlier order, an AIADMK candidate needs to procure a nomination letter with signatures of both EPS and OPS — who were joint coordinator and coordinator of the party, respectively — before their split.
The OPS group maintains that since he is the “coordinator”, the party’s symbol should be allotted to him.
The AIADMK’s general council on July 11, 2022 elected EPS as the interim general secretary and expelled OPS, following which the Palaniswami asked the poll panel to recognise him as the sole party leader. The EC has not taken a final decision on the EPS’s plea, which has been opposed by OPS.
Earlier this month, Tamil Nadu chief electoral officer Satyabrata Sahoo invited both EPS and OPS as joint-coordinator and coordinator for a meeting in Chennai on January 16 on the proposal for use of remote electronic voting machine to help migrants cast their votes outside their constituency. At the time Sahoo had said he was only following what was in the records of the ECI.
AIADMK leaders close to EPS maintain that if they do not contest for the party’s symbol now, the OPS faction might get it.
Besides the party symbol, the EPS camp in its plea before the top court also sought a direction for the ECI to record Palaniswami as the interim general secretary.
“The court has informed us that if there is a delay in the judgment, they would pass orders on our prayer on the symbol,” said a senior AIADMK leader from the EPS faction.
A week ago, OPS released a statement announcing he would field a candidate for the bypoll in Erode East. He also decided to back the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), an ally of the AIADMK, if it wanted to contest the poll.
The BJP, which has stayed clear of the internal tussle in the AIADMK, said they are yet to take a call on contesting the bypoll.
Get Current Updates on India News, Election 2024, Arvind Kejriwal News Live, Bihar Board 10th Result 2024 Live along with Latest News and Top Headlines from India and around the world.