The Supreme Court’s interim order in the AIADMK case has evoked positive responses from the AIADMK led by interim general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami and the group led by the deposed coordinator, O. Panneerselvam.
C.Ve. Shanmugam, former Law Minister and a key member of the party’s team for legal affairs, told The Hindu on the phone from New Delhi that the ruling had validated Mr. Palaniswami’s position. The court had “indirectly recognised” Mr. Palaniswami’s strength in the organisation.
Asked whether his party would intimate the Election Commission by Monday of the decision of members of the general council, Mr. Shanmugam said, “You do not have much time, as February 7 is the last date for filing of nominations [for the Erode (East) Assembly byelection].”
Asked whether his party proposed to get the opinion of general council members through email, he said, “We have not yet thought of how to do it.”
At an interaction with journalists in New Delhi, Paul Manoj Pandian, an important supporter of the Panneerselvam group, recalled that the deposed coordinator had been calling for unity among all sections of the party and saying that it was the duty of party volunteers to safeguard the two leaves symbol.
“He has achieved the objective of getting the symbol protected.”
Pointing out that the court had permitted the “illegally expelled” four members to convey their views to the general council, he said, “This has shown that ‘dharmam’ is on the side of OPS Annan.” He added that the court had not allowed Mr. Palaniswami to sign on the nomination papers.
