COIMBATORE: In these days of dynastic politics, it is common for fathers and sons to contest and win elections.
In an unusual coincidence, a father-son duo — P H Pandian and P H Paul Manoj Pandian — has earned the distinction of successfully fighting an election petition and winning the legal battle after a full five years each. What’s more? Both had challenged the election of their respective opponents from the Cheranmahadevi Assembly constituency in Tirunelveli.
On Wednesday, young AIADMK leader Manoj Pandian, a lawyer, secured a favourable verdict from the Supreme Court declaring as null and void the election of Congress MLA P Veldurai from Cheranmahadevi in May 2006. Veldurai had defeated Manoj by 5,637 votes.
“While filing his nomination, Veldurai hid that he was a contractor for the Highways Department. Although I had lost the election petition against him in the Madras HC, I moved the Supreme Court and got a favourable verdict after producing the documents to prove that he had not terminated his contract with the government while contesting the polls,” Manoj Pandian told Express.
Interestingly, his father and former TN Speaker P H Pandian, known for his proclamation that a speaker enjoyed “sky high powers”, had won a similar election petition in 1996, five years after his opponent R Puthunainar Athithan of the AIADMK was declared elected from Cheranmahadevi.