Chennai: A day after Edappadi Palaniswami announced the party’s desire to contest in Erode (East) bypolls, former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam said that his faction of AIADMK would also contest in the by-election.
Addressing a press meet, OPS said, "In the upcoming Erode (East) bypolls, we are contesting elections as part of AIADMK.”
When asked about the symbol, OPS said, "In the AIADMK general council election, I was elected as the AIADMK coordinator and EPS was elected as AIADMK co-coordinator. Around 1 crore AIADMK cadre recognised the elections and said that we can function in our portfolios till 2026."
“I have full rights over AIADMK’s two-leaves symbol as I am the party’s coordinator. I am ready to sign the B-form of the AIADMK to get the symbol,” he said.
However, OPS said, “If BJP decides to contest the Erode East Assembly constituency by-election, we will support it since it is a national party.”
The seat was originally reserved for the Tamil Maanila Congress Party, an alliance partner of AIADMK, during 2021 Assembly elections. Recently, the leader of Tamil Maanila Congress GK Vasan met leaders of EPS faction and accepted the interest of AIADMK to contest from the seat. However, the statement from OPS has come against this backdrop.
The Erode (East) constituency fell vacant after the demise of sitting Congress MLA Thirumahan Everaa. The Congress leader complained of chest pain and died after suffering a cardiac arrest. It can also be noted that Thirumahan is the son of Congress leader EVKS Elangovan and great grandson of EVR Periyar.