Preferred ‘gift box’ symbol to honour Jaya, says TTV

Addressing media in Kancheepuram on Friday, Dhinakaran expressed confidence that there would not be any difficulty for them in popularising the new symbol among voters.

Admitting that the symbol was chosen from a list of 36 free symbols listed by the ECI, Dhinakaran said that he preferred the ‘gift pack’ as a symbol in memory of the late AIADMK leader, J Jayalalithaa. “The last scheme she had launched was the ‘gift pack’ scheme for young mothers and infants, Dhinakaran reasoned and added that it was a symbol preferred by his party. “Thanks to justice rendered by the Supreme Court. We were even prepared to face the polls as 58 independents with different symbols. With the gift box symbol, the job will now be easy for us,” Dhinakaran added.

Levelling allegations against polling officials for being biased against the AMMK, Dhinakaran alleged that a flying squad led by a police inspector and the local tahsildar had turned up at his hotel room the night before. They however left hurriedly upon seeing a media crew, he added. “Am I a fool to keep money in my room? Is there any common sense and dignity left among the officials on poll duty?” he questioned. After the polls, both the government at the Centre and the State will lose power and so is better that the officials stay neutral, the AMMK leader added.

Stating that late DMK leader M Karunanidhi too tried playing the same tactics to steal the legacy of MGR when he was hospitalised, the AMMK leader said that Stalin too was exploiting Jayalalithaa’s legacy. The public would not believe the DMK and the followers of Amma would only vote for the AMMK, Dhinakaran added.

It may be noted that the Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to issue the ‘pressure cooker’ as a common symbol to AMMK candidates, but a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi directed the ECI to give them a common election symbol from among the free symbols available. Dhinakaran had won the RK Nagar bypoll under the pressure cooker symbol in December 2017, which became vacant after the demise of former chief minister J Jayalalithaa.