Chennai: The full bench of the Election Commission will make an important hearing on demand from groups led by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and rebel leader TTV Dhinakaran, when the battle of “two leaves” symbol will reach its peak on Friday. The symbol be allocated to them
The Chief Election Commissioner Achal Kumar Jyoti and Election Commissioner Om Prakash Rawat and Sunil Arora have started hearing the election commission at the Election House at 3 pm, during which the representatives of the two factions presented their case.
The originally the case was filed by the Dy. Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam and E. Madhusudhanan after they fight against the interim general secretary V.K. Sasikala rebel claimed for the symbol of two leaves. In the form of a merger of EPS and OPS groups, Dhinakaran had knocked at the Election Commission’s door and maid a petition not pass any order without hearing their side.
The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court is being directed to dispose the petition by 31st October; the Election Commission has heard the case on Friday. Sources say that if EC is satisfied with the argument and if the opponents do not ask for time for counter arguments, then the decisions can be passed on that evening. “It all depends on how it goes, but the EC has decided to settle the matter till October 31.”
Both groups have already declared their written responses to the EC and will forward their case during the hearing on Friday.
Both groups have Claimed the “symbol of two leaves”, which affects people from different generations because it is associated with charisma of late M.G. Ramachandran.
This is the second time in 29 years that the opponent’s claims over symbols of two leaves have crossed the Election Commission. After the death of MGR in 1987, the AIADMK divided into two groups- J Jayalalithaa and VN Janaki and both the groups claimed the symbols, since the Election Commission stopped it and allocated a new symbol for both factions. Later, this symbol was de-frozen after uniting groups.
