Election Commission of India decided to freeze two-leaves symbol of AIADMK
The Election Commission of India on Wednesday decided to freeze the two-leaves symbol of the AIADMK after two factions – led by V K Sasikala and O Panneerselvam – staked claim to it. In TN, bypolls have mostly been won by the ruling party, but without its popular symbol, AIADMK is at a disadvantage.
The full-bench of the commission led by chief election commissioner Nasim Zaidi, gave an interim order that said, “neither of the two groups shall be permitted to use the name of the party `All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’ nor the two leaves symbol reserved for the party.”
The commission said it was “satisfied based on the documents filed and the oral submissions made by the counsels of both the parties that there are two rival groups in the party”, but added that the order is subject to the final determination of the dispute.
The interim order, which the poll panel said is purely the other contest warring expelled for the purpose of the upcoming RK Nagar bypoll, brought back memories of the 1989 split when two factions of the party led by Jayalalithaa and Janaki Ramachandran faced the assembly poll without AIADMK name and two-leaves symbol.
Earlier, the EC heard elaborate arguments advanced by counsel for the main petitioners -E Madhusudanan (OPS camp) and V K Sasikala.
The OPS group challenged the nomination of Sasikala as AIADMK general secretary on the grounds that she did not fulfill the qualification as she did not have the mandatory five years continuous membership.
While the V K Sasikala camp was represented before the commission by heavyweight lawyers including Mohan Parasaran, A Sundaram and Salman Khurshid, the OPS faction was represented by C S Vaidyanathan and Krishan Kumar.
For now, the two groups can choose any name, including those linking them to the parent party AIADMK. They can choose from the list of free symbols notified by the EC for the April 12 election.
The order came around 11pm after a marathon session that began at 10.30am at the EC headquarters. The two groups have to furnish by 10am on Thursday, the names of their groups, by which they may be recognized by the commission and the symbols which may be allotted to the candidates set up, if any. They may indicate the names of three free symbols, in the order of their preference, any one of which may be allotted to the candidates, said the nine-page order.
Terming the EC decision “unexpected,” R K Nagar candidate representing the Sasikala group, T T V Dinakaran said, “My winning chances will not be affected. It is not a setback for me.”
The Sasikala group relied on past Supreme Court verdicts in similar cases to support its claim, particularly on the test of majority . There was no split in the party and it was only “a matter of internal dissent,” it said.
Madhusudanan, the candidate for the OPS camp said, “We expected the two-leaves to come to us.”