Tamil Nadu Erode East Bypoll: EPS Faction Seeks Interim Relief From Supreme Court; Candidate Not Yet Finalised

The Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) faction of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) approached the Supreme Court seeking interim orders in the case related to the leadership of the party that arose after the general council meeting last July, in which O Panneerselvam (OPS) and his followers were expelled from the party.

Senior Advocate Ariyama Sundaram who appeared for the EPS faction said that the Election Commission (EC) was refusing to accept the signature of Palaniswami on nomination forms in his capacity as interim general secretary, citing the pendency of the case before the Apex Court.

She added that time was limited as the last date for filing nominations has been notified as 7 February, and thus interim orders were necessary to enable the EPS faction to contest the polls.

The bench consisting of Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Hrishikesh Roy said that they would try to give final orders before the deadline for nominations and if not possible, they would issue interim orders. On 11 January, the same bench had reserved its verdict in the case after the completion of the hearing.

At a meeting held in Erode today (27 January), Palaniswami said that his faction was confident of victory due to the good work done by the AIADMK government during its tenure. He attacked Panneerselvam by saying that "Some traitors are attempting to split the party and have joined with our enemies and are involved in anti-AIADMK activities. The election result should teach them a lesson."

Regarding the candidate to be put up by his faction, he said that the candidate has not been finalised yet.

Also Read: Tamil Nadu Erode East Bypoll: Kamal Haasan's MNM To Support Congress Candidate EVKS Elangovan; EPS-OPS Yet To Declare Their Candidates