Panneerselvam, Palaniswami faction bags ‘two leaves’

NEW DELHI: Putting an end to the long-standing row within the AIADMK, the Election Commission on Thursday allotted the “two leaves” symbol of the party to the Panneerselvam-Palaniswami faction, holding that it enjoyed majority in the party’s legislative and organisational wings.

“The Commission is of the considered opinion that the petitioners group led by E. Madhusudhanan, O Panneerselvam and S Semmalai, and also supported presently by the impleading applicant EK Palaniswami, the present Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, enjoys support of majority members in the legislative and organisational wings,” the ruling issued on Thursday said. The row between the Palaniswami-Panneerselvam group and the one led by ousted member VK Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dinakaran was a consequence of chief minister J Jayalalithaa’s death last December after a prolonged illness. EC had frozen the party’s ‘two-leaves’ symbol in March, just before RK Nagar bypoll and issued new ones to warring factions of the party – at that time led by Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam.