Chennai: Law minister C.Ve. Shanmugam and AIADMK’s deputy coordinator K.P. Munusamy on Sunday accused rebel leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran of trying to delay the verdict in the Two Leaves case by seeking repeated adjournments without any basis.
As the EC is set to resume hearing in the case on Monday, Shanmugam hoped that the poll body will ask the petitioners and respondents to close their arguments so that verdict can be delivered. The Law minister, once an ardent supporter of V.K. Sasikala, accused Dhinakaran of trying to keep the Two Leaves symbol frozen to further DMK’s interests.
“Dhinakaran has no locus standi to talk about Two Leaves symbol chosen by late M.G. Ramachandran and retrieved by the late J. Jayalalithaa. They are seeking adjournment after adjournment only to delay the verdict in the case. We hope tomorrow’s hearing will be the last and expect the verdict by November 10”, Shanmugam told reporters before leaving for New Delhi.
Munusamy, a close aide of deputy chief minister O. Panneerselvam and one of the members of the party’s much-hyped coordination committee, claimed that the Sasikala camp was not able to counter their arguments.
“They have not been able to counter the affidavits filed by us since they have no locus standi to fight this case. Only because they know they will lose the case, Dhinakaran faction is seeking repeated adjournments with an aim to delay the verdict,” Munusamy said. The Dhinakaran’s camp had sought three adjournments since the hearing began on October 6.
Both the factions have staked claim to the ‘Two Leaves’ symbol, which holds sway over people from 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 Two Leaves symbol has 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 defreezed after the party was united.
