Election Commission rejects AIADMK reply on Sasikala elevation
CHENNAI: Citing a procedural snag in the response filed by AIADMK deputy general secretary TTV Dinakaran to the notice to party general secretary VK Sasikala, the Election Commission has directed her to submit her own reply or authorise someone to do so on her behalf.
Sasikala, now lodged at Parappana Agrahara prison in Bengaluru, has been asked to respond by March 10.
Dinakaran, the de facto leader of the party since the day his aunt was lodged in prison, had filed five replies - one on February 20, and the rest on February 28 - to the commission’s notice seeking response to the complaint against Sasikala’s appointment as the party leader.
However, the commission pointed out that Dinakaran was not an office-bearer of the AIADMK as per its record - he was readmitted and elevated to the position only hours before she left for prison.
“Communications from the party should be signed by an authorised office-bearer. Hence, the reply should either be submitted under your own signature or you may duly authorise somebody to do so on your behalf. This may be submitted latest by March 10,” the communication on Friday said.
Talking to Express, S Senthil, one of the lawyers who filed the AIADMK’s reply, said, “We will file the proper reply, along with the authorisation from Sasikala, to the commission on March 6 or latest by March 7.”
It is a small, moral victory for the rebel camp led by former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, who had challenged the validity of Sasikala’s appointment as general secretary of the party before the EC.
Admitting the complaint, the commission had sent her three notices - on February 2, 15 and 17 - seeking her response by February 28.
However, as the commission was only seeking that the response be filed by a person she had formally authorised, the setback, if any, is only minor for Sasikala.