AIADMK camps not allowed to use party symbol

The Election Commission on Wednesday barred both the rival factions of the AIADMK from using the party’s two-leaves symbol for the byelection to the R K Nagar Assembly constituency.

The commission issued an interim order “in order to place both the rival groups on even keel to protect their rights and interests”.

The poll panel ordered that neither of the two groups led by the petitioners E Madhusudhanan, O Panneerselvam and S Semmalai) and the respondents V K Sasikala and T T V Dinakaran should be permitted to use the name of the AIADMK  during the byelection. The EC allowed both the groups to choose names they should be known by during the byelection. The rival factions would be allowed to choose names that would show linkage with the AIADMK. 

The rival groups would be allotted such different symbols as they may choose from the list of free symbols notified by the commission for the bypoll.

Salman Khurshid, Veerappa Moily, Mohan Parasaran and Aryama Sundaram argued on behalf of the Sasikala faction.

The Panneerselvam faction’s case was argued by C S Vaidyanathan and Guru Krishna Kumar.