The Election Commission today decided that AIADMK’s ‘two leaves’ symbol belongs to the united AIADMK faction led by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami. It was a major setback to the faction led by jailed VK Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dhinakaaran.
The Election Commission’s order comes within a week of an earlier one in a similar tussle between two factions over Janata Dal (United)’s [JD(U)] election symbol.
In that order, the poll panel recognised the faction led by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as the real JD(U), rejecting the claims of rebel party MP Sharad Yadav.
ULING PARTIES
In both the cases, the factions which were awarded the symbol and recognised as the real party are ruling in their respective states – Edappadi K Palaniswami? of AIADMK in Tamil Nadu and Nitish Kumar of JD(U) in Bihar.
Nitish Kumar is in power since 2005, with a short break when he had installed Jitan Manjhi after the JD(U)’s not so impressive performance in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Palaniswami is in power since February after he replaced O Panneerselvam on the chair. The latter had been installed after the death of AIADMK’s founder and then chief minister J Jayalalithaa in December 2016.
After the Election Commission’s ruling, Palaniswami said his faction is “very happy.” “Majority of party workers supported us,” he said.
It is a fair verdict by EC. We submitted affidavits to prove that majority of cadres are with us. Based on this, EC has delivered a fair decision. #TwoLeavesSymbol
— Edappadi K Palaniswami (@CMOTamilNadu) November 23, 2017
PROXIMITY TO BJP
JD(U) is the BJP’s ally at the centre and in Bihar. The two parties share power at the centre.
Though AIADMK is not an ally of the BJP, it is considered close to the party ruling at the centre.
Asked by mediapersons today on allegations that the ruling came in their favour due to “proximity with the BJP”, Palaniswami said, “It is wrong. We had facts on our side and majority of MLAs, MPs and party workers were with us. All this was taken into consideration.”
REBELS VS CONFORMISTS
If there may have been similarities between the AIADMK and JD(U), there also is a difference.
While the losers in the JD(U) were the rebels, the losers in the AIADMK were those who were part of the mainstream party.
The split in JD(U) took place after Rajya Sabha MP Sharad Yadav, along with Gujarat MLA Chhotu Bhai Vasava and Upper House MP Ali Anwar, objected to Nitish Kumar breaking ranks with grand alliance partners, the RJD and Congress, to form government in the state with the BJP.
In March, Yadav made Vasava the working president and Anwar as one of the vice-presidents.
They moved the Election Commission to claim the party’s ‘arrow’ symbol. After several rounds of hearings, the Election Commission finally decided in favour of the Nitish Kumar’s camp on November 17.
As far as the AIADMK is concerned, the party’s fate went through a complex roller coaster ride. Panneerselvam (OPS) was replaced with Palanisami (EPS).
However, OPS revolted and the party split. A floor test was also conducted. EPS was declared victorious.
Enter Dinakaran.
This forced EPS and OPS to join hands and oust Dinakaran as well as Sasikala. But this also led the two factions to move the Election Commission to stake claim over the party symbol of two leaves.
After a prolonged battle, the commission decided the matter in the EPS-OPS faction. This camp had rebelled against Sasikala and Dinkaran who had control over the party till then.
WHAT NEXT?
Feeling aggrieved over the Election Commission’s order, the Sharad Yadav faction has challenged it in the Delhi High Court.
It is not yet known whether the Sasikala-Dinakaran faction of the AIADMK will also follow suit and challenge the commission’s order in the court.
intoday.in
