Tamil Nadu CEO seeks AIADMK's opinion on RVM

Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Tamil Nadu, Satyabrata Sahoo, on Sunday said he sent a letter to coordinator and joint coordinator of the AIADMK seeking their opinion on Remote Voting Machine (RVM) for migrants according to documents provided by the Election Commission of India (ECI).

The clarification came after the AIADMK took objection to the letter saying the “dual leadership” lapsed in June and was replaced with the post of interim general secretary and that the CEO should not have addressed the communication to the coordinator and joint coordinator.

“I went by the documents that were provided to me by the ECI,” Sahoo said, responding to questions about the AIADMK’s reservation on the issue.

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On December 30, Sahoo, in his capacity as the CEO of Tamil Nadu, wrote letters to leaders of political parties seeking their opinion on RVMs for migrant workers. The letter set off a political storm with the faction led by Edappadi K Palaniswami refusing to accept the letter and the group led by O Panneerselvam calling it the “real situation.”

The EPS camp said the CEO should have addressed the letter to the Interim General Secretary (EPS) who was appointed to the post by the General Council on July 11.

Sources said though the EPS faction has sent documents relating to the GC meeting and the appointment of Palaniswami, the ECI is yet to formally ratify the decision. “Unless the GC decisions are ratified, the documents will reflect the old details,” the source added.

OPS, who was expelled on July 11, has challenged the GC meeting in the Supreme Court as well as in the ECI.

The development came after two official invitations from the Union Government to EPS addressed him as the general secretary of the AIADMK.

The Union Parliamentary Affairs Ministry sent out an invite to Palaniswami for the meeting of leaders of political parties to discuss preparations for the G20 Summit to be held in New Delhi in 2023 in the first week of December, while a letter from the Law Commission seeking opinion on ‘one nation, one election’ identified him as the general secretary of the AIADMK.