The Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) general secretary, T.T.V. Dhinakaran has made it clear that the party’s stance of opposing the ruling DMK and AIADMK leader Edappadi K.Palaniswami will not get diluted in the forthcoming Erode (East) Assembly Constituency by-election.
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Responding to a query on the party’s stand in the Erode (East) bypoll on Thursday, Mr Dhinakaran told journalists in Thanjavur that he had made it clear to AMMK office-bearers and cadre that the “evil force” DMK and the “traitor” Edappadi’s wing in AIADMK were their political rivals.
Affirming that his party cadre would not vote either for DMK or for the ‘traitors’, he said they would take an appropriate stand in the Erode (East) bypoll.
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Claiming that the ‘two-leaves’ symbol had lost its popularity due to the power struggle between Palaniswami and Panneerselvam factions in AIADMK, Mr. Dhinakaran said the AIADMK candidate might get some 5,000 votes extra but could not win the elections on account of the ‘two-leaves’ symbol alone.
He defended the AMMK’s decision to stay away from Erode (East) bypoll by pointing out that the Election Commission had refused to allocate the ‘pressure cooker’ symbol to the party in the bypoll at the last minute.
Had the Election Commission announced its decision earlier, the party might have approached the Supreme Court and obtained a direction in this regard, he added.
