Shalini Lobo | Posted by Sonalee Borgohain
New Delhi, October 30, 2017 | UPDATED 23:52 IST
In the fourth hearing TTV Dhinakaran camp argued that the EPS-OPS faction have submitted forged affidavits.
The hearing in the AIADMK symbol row has been postponed to November 1. (Photo: Reuters) The fight over the coveted AIADMK two-leaf symbol is far from over. What was expected to be the last hearing in the party symbol case before the Election Commission of India has been further extended with the body scheduling the next hearing for November 1.
Both camps of the party have hired the finest lawyers and are engaged in a bitter stalemate. Former law minister Ashwini Kumar and senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi are fighting the case for camp TTV Dhinakaran and Sasikala Natrajan. Both Dhinakaran and Sasikala were ousted from the AIADMK.
Representing Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edapaddi Palaniswami is Mukul Rohatgi, while CS Vaidyanathan is arguing the case on behalf of deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam.
This was the fourth hearing in the two-leaf symbol case where the TTV Dhinakaran camp argued that the EPS and OPS faction have submitted forged affidavits and that the EC should take note of the same and cross-examine the affidavits.
They also claimed that there are ten members from the General Council meet who have come forward and revealed that their signatures have been forged.
"We have ten members of the AIADMK General Council who state that their signatures have been forged. We have asked the EC to speak to them as well," said Pugazhendi, AIADMK spokesperson, who is a TTV Dhinakaran loyalist.
The OPS-EPS camp said they have proof that none of these affidavits were forged. "The general council meet was videographed. We are willing to give it to prove that no signature is fraudulent. This is nothing but a tactic to delay the hearing," said TN Fisheries Minister Jayakumar.
However, Dhinakaran's advocate Raja Senthoor Pandian countered these claims stating that the video of the General Council meeting are only claims made by the ministers and that no one has seen the video yet.
Earlier, OPS was the only one fighting against Sasikala and Dhinakaran for the two-leaf symbol. With the first hearing, Rohatgi argued on behalf of EPS to be made party to the symbol battle. Moreover, the two factions have two different headquarters in the national capital.
The OPS loyalists house in AIADMK MP Dr V Maitreyen's Delhi residence, while the EPS factions have made the Tamil Nadu House their headquarters. But when questions regarding mistrust are raised, their answer remains that they are still ironing out the creases.