Sasikala camp gets hat, OPS electric pole

Both factions get new names

The rival factions of the All India Anna Dravida Munnethra Kazhagam will contest the byelection in Tamil Nadu’s R K Nagar Assembly constituency with ‘hat’ and ‘electric pole’ as symbols.

A day after barring both the rival factions from using the AIADMK’s signature emblem “two-leaves”, the Election Commission (EC) on Thursday allotted the hat symbol to the group led by V K Sasikala. The other faction led by O Panneerselvam was allotted the electric pole as its symbol.

The EC also decided that the AIADMK faction led by Sasikala would be known as AIADMK (Amma), while the party’s other group led by Panneerselvam would be called AIADMK (Puratchithalaivi Amma). The poll panel allowed both the rival factions to opt for new names that would reflect their linkages with the original AIADMK and the party’s late leader J Jayalalithaa, who was chief minister of the state till her death on December 5 last year.

The faction led by Sasikala put her nephew T T V Dinakaran as the candidate in the R K Nagar Assembly constituency, where byelection is being held to fill the vacancy created due to the demise of Jayalalithaa. The faction led by Panneerselvam put the party’s veteran leader E Madhusudanan as its candidate. Thursday was the last day for filing nomination, while polling is scheduled to take place on April 12.

The EC on Wednesday heard the arguments by the lawyers of both the factions in support of their respective claims on the AIADMK’s poll symbol “two-leaves”.

The poll panel later issued an order barring both factions from contesting the byelection with the “two-leaves” symbol. The Sasikala camp on Thursday requested the EC to allot it any of the three symbols — “auto-rickshaw”, “cricket bat” and “hat”.

Though the poll panel had granted it the “auto-rickshaw”, it sought a change and was later allotted the “hat” as its symbol. “The symbol clearly indicates MGR (M G Ramachandran), the founder of AIADMK, who used to wear such hats. So, our candidate T T V Dinakaran will succeed in the R K Nagar byelections with thumping majority,” said M Thambidurai, Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha and a leader of the AIADMK faction led by Sasikala.
DH News Service