Dissident leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran on Tuesday said his faction would continue to use the name AIADMK and the party flag, and that he had no plans to float a new party.
“The Election Commission, in its 87-page order, has not said that we should not use the name of AIADMK and its flag,” he claimed. “AIADMK is our party and the ‘two leaves’ symbol is our right. We will continue our fight to get back the symbol. We will challenge the EC’s order in the Supreme Court in a day or two,” he told reporters here.
Mr. Dhinakaran’s stand came in response to a question on the use of the AIADMK flag on his car even after the EC’s order recognising the faction headed by Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and O. Panneerselvam as the real AIADMK.
Recollecting instances of the rival camp defying the EC’s orders in the past, Mr. Dhinakaran said that when the EC had frozen the ‘two leaves’ symbol, it had also barred the use of the name AIADMK. But, Mr. Palaniswami and Mr. Panneerselvam continued to flout it then, he alleged. In fact, they issued an official statement on the official letterhead of the AIADMK, he pointed out.
Commenting on three Rajya Sabha members switching sides and meeting the Chief Minister on Monday, Mr. Dhinakaran said they might have done so due to fear of disqualification (under the anti-defection law). He claimed that they had informed him of their move and had said that they would come back to him.
‘Confident of victory’
Expressing confidence that he would win the R.K. Nagar byelection, he said that the fight was between him and the DMK. He would seek the ‘hat’ symbol for the election, he said.
When his attention was drawn to the fresh Income Tax searches in different parts of the State, Mr. Dhinakaran said such actions would continue until the R.K. Nagar bypoll was over.
“The Election Commission, in its 87-page order, has not said that we should not use the name of AIADMK and its flag,” he claimed. “AIADMK is our party and the ‘two leaves’ symbol is our right. We will continue our fight to get back the symbol. We will challenge the EC’s order in the Supreme Court in a day or two,” he told reporters here.
Mr. Dhinakaran’s stand came in response to a question on the use of the AIADMK flag on his car even after the EC’s order recognising the faction headed by Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and O. Panneerselvam as the real AIADMK.
Recollecting instances of the rival camp defying the EC’s orders in the past, Mr. Dhinakaran said that when the EC had frozen the ‘two leaves’ symbol, it had also barred the use of the name AIADMK. But, Mr. Palaniswami and Mr. Panneerselvam continued to flout it then, he alleged. In fact, they issued an official statement on the official letterhead of the AIADMK, he pointed out.
Commenting on three Rajya Sabha members switching sides and meeting the Chief Minister on Monday, Mr. Dhinakaran said they might have done so due to fear of disqualification (under the anti-defection law). He claimed that they had informed him of their move and had said that they would come back to him.
‘Confident of victory’
Expressing confidence that he would win the R.K. Nagar byelection, he said that the fight was between him and the DMK. He would seek the ‘hat’ symbol for the election, he said.
When his attention was drawn to the fresh Income Tax searches in different parts of the State, Mr. Dhinakaran said such actions would continue until the R.K. Nagar bypoll was over.