Plaintiff has no stake, AIADMK replies to EC notice

CHENNAI: Day after the Election Commission (EC) issued a notice seeking explanation regarding a petition from one Suriyamoorthy, who reportedly demanded the Commission to freeze the symbol until all the pending cases regarding the symbol were disposed of, the AIADMK leadership on Wednesday responded to the Commission pointing out the plaintiff has no stake in the party and his contention has no legal validity.

“We have made our stand clear in our petition that Suriyamoorthy is not holding any position in the party nor a primary member. Hence, he has no right to demand the Commission to freeze our party symbol,” said a senior party functionary and an advocate, privy to the development. The response was submitted to EC on behalf of party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami.

The leadership of the Dravidian major had also pointed out the Madras High Court order, dismissing O Panneerselvam and three of his supporters against the party general council meeting on July 11, 2022, in which Palaniswami was elected as the general secretary of the party, in their response. They further referred to the Supreme Court order upholding the MHC’s order to build up their strong position against Suriyamoorthy’s claims.

Palaniswami, while attending an Iftar programme, said that certain forces were trying their best to cause problems to the AIADMK, but they would fail. Going by the history of the party, many who betrayed the party faded away and reduced to an insignificant place in the political landscape in the state.

“He (O Panneerselvam) has been speaking out of frustration,” said Palaniswami while responding to Panneerselvam’s remark that they would field their candidates in the two leaves symbol in the Lok Sabha polls.