Ottapidaram: Puthiya Tamizhagam leader withdraws petition in HC

Justice K Ravichandra Babu, while dismissing the election petition based on the withdrawal, also directed the high court registry to forward the dismissal order of the election petition to ECI in a bid to confirm that there exists no pending litigation as far as Ottapidaram constituency is concerned. 

During the 2016 Assembly elections, Ottapidaram segment witnessed a contest between AIADMK candidate R Sundrarajan and Krishnaswamy. In the final rung, the former won the election by a margin of just 493 votes. Alleging foul play, Krishnaswamy moved an election petition at the Madras High Court challenging the result. 

However, following AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa’s death, Sundarajan defected to the group led by TTV Dhinakaran-resulting in his suspension and the seat thereby falling vacant. But the ECI while notifying the election had left out three constituencies-including Ottapidaram-based on the pending election petition filed by Krishnaswamy. 

While withdrawing his plea, Krishnaswamy also sought the court to direct the election commission to hold the election to Ottapidaram constituency. It may be noted that Krishnaswamy is fighting the general election as an ally of the AIADMK and is contesting from the Tenkasi seat.