Chennai: Election Commission will hear the ‘Two Leaves’ case on Monday with lawyers from both sides, EPS-OPS and TTV Dhinakaran set to present their case.
In a communication sent to deputy chief minister O. Panneerselvam, AIADMK presidium chairman E. Madhu’sudhanan, sacked general secretary VK Sasikala and TTV Dhinakaran, the Election Commission said the hearing will be conducted on October 16 instead of the earlier scheduled date of October 13.
The Commission had last week adjourned the hearing for October 13 after hearing from the factions headed by Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and rebel leader TTV Dhinakaran that the symbol be allotted to them. However, based on a request from Dhinakaran, it was deferred to Monday.
Panneerselvam and E. Madhusudhanan filed the original case after they rebelled against the then interim general secretary Sasikala and staked a claim for the symbol. As the EPS and OPS factions merged, Dhinakaran knocked at the doors of the Election Commission asking it not to pass any orders without hearing their side.
Both the factions have staked their claim to the ‘Two Leaves’ symbol, which holds sway over people of different generations since it is associated with the charisma of late M.G. Ramachandran. This is the second time in 29 years that rival claims over the symbol have reached the EC. In the aftermath of MGR’s death in 1987, the AIADMK split into two factions – J. Jayalalithaa and V.N. Janaki – and since both the groups staked claims over the symbol, the Election Commission kept it frozen and allotted new symbol for both factions. Later, the symbol was restored after the party was again united.
