ADVERTISEMENTREMOVE AD
Members Only
lock close icon

AIADMK Splits: ‘Hat’ For Sasikala Faction, ‘Electric pole’ For OPS

The Sasikala camp is now the AIADMK Amma, while the OPS faction has been named AIADMK Puratchi Thalaivi Amma.

Updated
Politics
2 min read
story-hero-img
i
Aa
Aa
Small
Aa
Medium
Aa
Large
Hindi Female

A day after freezing the AIADMK’s ‘two leaves’ election symbol, the Election Commission has granted separate election symbols to the Sasikala and Panneerselvam factions in the party.

The Sasikala faction, which will go by the name of AIADMK Amma, has been allotted a 'hat', while the OPS-led faction has been christened the AIADMK Puratchi Thalaivi Amma and have been assigned the party symbol of an ‘electric pole’.

The Sasikala camp was assigned an ‘auto-rickshaw’ symbol, but they turned it down.

ADVERTISEMENTREMOVE AD

Camps War Over AIADMK’s ‘Two Leaves’ Symbol

The move comes after the EC refused to give allow either the Sasikala or the OPS camp from laying claim to the AIADMK’s “two leaves” symbol. The tussle gained steam ahead of the bypolls in RK Nagar constituency, that was necessitated by J Jayalalithaa's demise. The late Tamil Nadu chief minister contested from the RK Nagar (Chennai) constituency for the first time in the 2015 by-elections.

0

The Commission heard the camps led by VK Sasikala and former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam.

Both the camps had hired legal heavyweights like former Law Ministers M Veerappa Moily and Salman Khurshid, former Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran, senior advocates CS Vaidyanathan, G Krishnakumar and B Srinivasan.

The Panneerselvam camp claimed that since Sasikala is only an interim general secretary, she cannot allot party symbol of 'two leaves' to any candidate contesting the RK Nagar assembly bypoll.

It said that Sasikala’s election was violative of the party constitution as she was chosen by the general council of the party and not the primary members.

ADVERTISEMENTREMOVE AD

On the other hand, the Sasikala camp maintained that after the demise of M G Ramachandran, late J Jayalalithaa too was appointed an interim general secretary to run the party affairs.

Sasikala's counsels said she enjoys the support of majority of party delegates, MPs and MLAs and hence has a right over the symbol. They said since the majority was with her, there was no vertical split in the party.

The OPS camp has announced E Madhusudhanan’s name as its candidate for the bypoll in RK Nagar, while the Sasikala camp has picked TTV Dinakaran (AIADMK Deputy General Secretary and Sasikala’s nephew), to contest the prestigious election.

(This story has been updated)

(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)

Read Latest News and Breaking News at The Quint, browse for more from news and politics

Published: 
Speaking truth to power requires allies like you.
Become a Member
3 months
12 months
12 months
Check Member Benefits
Read More
×
×