Chennai: “I will contest at RK Nagar; I will win”. That was TTV Dhinakaran responding to the Election Commission announcement on Friday setting December 21 as the date for the byelection deferred in April amid high corruption by his multiple poll agents. The beleaguered AIADMK rebel had earlier said he would contest the by-election subject to clearance from his aunt V. K. Sasikala, who he insists remains the party general secretary notwithstanding the general council resolution ejecting her from the throne. It is not clear whether Chinnamma cleared his RK Nagar decision but TTV now says, “The party politburo meeting tomorrow will take the formal decision but I can tell you now I am contesting at RK Nagar”.
“That’s how democratic that outfit is,” sneered law minister C.Ve. Shanmugam. “He announces today what his so-called politburo will parrot tomorrow”. According to him, TTV “will bite the dust because the people will not be fooled by his money power”. Pointing out that TTV is out on bail after being jailed for alleged attempt to bribe the Election Commission officials for getting the two-leaves symbol for his AIADMK faction, Shanmugam said he had no right now to slam the EC as the ‘handmaid’ of the Centre in allotting the symbol to the EPS-OPS party.
“The voters in RK Nagar will not allow themselves to be insulted by the money power of TTV. They understand he has no party and his outfit is just a private limited company”, said the law minister. Carrying on undisturbed by the EC verdict, the IT raids and the criticism from the ruling camp, the obdurate TTV said he would move the Supreme Court on Monday (November 27) to retrieve the two-leave symbol—he said the symbol with the EPS-OPS party is like a garland in the hands of monkeys—and drive to Bengaluru on November 29 “to brief Chinnamma”.
