Bypoll 20 ready: AIADMK gets in-charges

Chennai

The ruling AIADMK which had declared that it was ready to face the bypolls to 20 vacant assembly seats on Monday announced election in-charges for all the seats.

In a joint statement, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and Deputy CM O Panneerselvam named poll organisers to spearhead the election works for those seats, which became vacant after the third judge of Madras High Court upheld the speaker’s disqualification order last week.

The 20 constituencies include the high profile Tiruvarur that became vacant after the demise of DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi and Tiruparankundram, where the DMK has filed a petition adding to the delay in conducting elections.

Panneerselvam, the AIADMK convenor, will be the in-charge for Andipatti and Periyakulam (reserved), both in Theni district.

Presidium chairman E Madhusudhanan and Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar will be the in-charge for Perambur constituency in Chennai. Significantly, the AIADMK has designated ten party functionaries, including ministers to work in Perambur, located near the R K Nagar constituency currently represented by AMMK leader TTV Dhinakaran .

The AIADMK has roped in senior leaders, including Dindigul C Srinivasan, P Thangamani, Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai, to oversee the poll-related works.

CM to attend Patel statue unveiling function

Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami is set to participate in the inaugural function of the statue of Sardar Vallabhai Patel in Gujarat on Wednesday.

Sources close to Palaniswami said the CM will leave for Gujarat on Wednesday morning. However, the participation of other ministers is not yet confirmed, said sources.

Legislators from Gujarat met Palaniswami at his office in the Secretariat recently and invited him for the function. The statue, which is the tallest in the world, will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Kneel and apologise at Jaya memorial, sacked MLAs told

Chennai: AIADMK party organ Namadhu Amma on Monday asked the 18 disqualified MLAs to "kneel" and "apologise" at the memorial of late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in order to return to the party fold. Crediting the victory of all 18 individuals in the 2016 Assembly polls to Jayalalithaa, an article published in the paper asked them to "deeply repent" their action of siding with Dhinakaran, before they could return to the parent organisation. The disqualified MLAs have "come on the streets" by siding with Dhinakaran and are in a "pitiable situation," it said, adding that those who became MLAs because of Jayalalithaa were now virtually reduced to nothing by joining the "wrong camp". "You had deserted the temple called AIADMK and joined AMMK. Whether you went for benefits or unwittingly, this situation has come up because of your veering off the path shown by ‘Amma’," it said.