EPS camp candidate likely to become AIADMK alliance’s Erode bypoll face
CHENNAI: K S Thennarasu, the candidate proposed by AIADMK interim general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) is most likely to emerge as the party’s nominee for the Erode East Assembly constituency by-election, going by statements made by O Panneerselvam (OPS), his supporter R Vaithilingam, and BJP state president K Annamalai on Saturday. Further, ballot papers along with affidavits circulated to the general council (GC) members of the AIADMK, will be submitted to the Supreme Court on Monday so that the chosen candidate will be allotted the ‘Two Leaves’ symbol.
B Senthil Murugan, who has filed his nomination as the OPS camp candidate, is expected to withdraw his candidacy in due course.
Meanwhile, OPS has appointed him as the organising secretary of his faction. In a statement released on Saturday, OPS said, “As far as this bypoll is concerned, the AIADMK cadre who support me will work for the victory of the ‘Two Leaves’ symbol. I have been insisting that the AIADMK should unitedly face the election and that I am ready to sign the election forms in my capacity as the AIADMK party’s coordinator.”
R Vaithilingam, a senior functionary in the Panneerselvam faction, on Saturday declared that his camp would extend support to the candidate chosen by the GC to represent the party in the bypoll, irrespective of whichever faction the person belonged to.
Pointing out that supporters of EPS have been claiming that OPS is not a part of AIADMK anymore, Panneerselvam added, “The Supreme Court has now ordered that the candidate should be finalised only after consulting me and my supporters.”
“At the same time, the apex court has neither ordered a stay on my continuance as the coordinator of the party, nor recognised EPS as the party’s interim general secretary. This is a befitting lesson to those who opposed us,” he added.
The letter sent by the AIADMK presidium chairman to the GC members read, “EPS has proposed the name of KS Thennarasu as the party’s candidate for this by-election. In the ballot paper attached with this letter, you can either say ‘Accepted’ or ‘Declined’ and return the ballot papers at party headquarters by 7 pm on February 5.” An affidavit to express the support of the general council members has also been attached to the letter.
Clarifying the saffron party’s stand on the issue, Annamalai told media persons at the BJP headquarters in Chennai, “Our party’s preferred option is that Panneerselvam should withdraw his candidacy. A national
party like BJP cannot support a candidate who would contest on an independent symbol. We have already made an appeal to Panneerselvam in this regard.
He had agreed to our appeal on Friday with certain conditions. I can’t reveal those details now. We did not interfere in the internal affairs of AIADMK. We just made our position clear and clarified what needed to be done if they wanted the support of the BJP.” The BJP state chief also said his party had taken much effort in the past eight days to ensure only one candidate was put up by the AIADMK.
“There is massive anti-incumbency against the DMK government. To convert this as votes, we needed one strong candidate. Both EPS and OPS had announced their candidates only after informing me. We would never interfere in the internal affairs of an alliance party,” he added.