Chennai: Unfazed by allegations that his camp was distributing huge sums of money to lure voters in R K Nagar constituency, AIADMK (Amma) candidate T. T. V. Dhinakaran said they were being spread by the Opposition, who are sure of his victory.
"They can delay the election, but they cannot deny my victory. My victory from RK Nagar is sure. There are efforts to delay the elections. The elections may be delayed for a week or 10 days, but my victory is sure. They cannot deny me victory," he told reporters at the party headquarters here on Thursday.
Mr Dhinakaran, the deputy general secretary of the AIADMK, is the AIADMK (Amma) candidate for the bypolls and he is contesting on 'hat' symbol after the party's Two Leaves symbol was frozen following claims by rival OPS camp.
The AIADMK (Amma) has been accused of using "money and official power" in the constituency to sway the voters in their favour. Almost all ministers of Edappadi K. Palanisami Cabinet are camping at the R K Nagar constituency to ensure the victory of Dhinakaran.
"The Opposition knows for sure that they cannot win this election. The writing is on the wall. People of R K Nagar have decided to vote for me since they think I truly represent ideals of late Amma. Since the Opposition parties and OPS camp are sure of my victory, there are restoring to spreading allegations," Dhinakaran said.
The deputy general secretary has been pulling every stop to score a victory from R K Nagar constituency since this is the first electoral test for the ruling AIADMK after the demise of J. Jayalalithaa. Dhinakaran's win will come as the much-needed moral booster for the AIADMK which has been hit by Jayalalithaa's death, jail term of V. K. Sasikala and desertions by leaders like O. Panneerselvam.
‘Two Leaves symbol has been removed from websites’
AIADMK (Amma) has told the Election Commission that the frozen Two Leaves symbol spotted on its official website was "unnoticed" and has been removed.
In his reply to the Election Commission to the notice issued by it on use of Two Leaves symbol in website and social networking sites, Mr Dhinakaran said they were not misused. "The symbol was unnoticed since the website was there for sometime and it was removed once it was brought to notice," the reply said.
Dhinakaran, who has opted for the 'Hat' symbol for the by poll, said there was no need for him to seek votes in the name of Two Leaves. "Our symbol is Hat and there is no need to seek votes using Two Leaves," he told reporters here on Thursday.
The EC had asked for an explanation from Mr Dhinakaran on why the symbol was not removed from the website of the AIADMK despite it being frozen.
