Tamil Nadu CM Edappadi K. Palaniswami welcomes EC’s move to award the AIADMK symbol to EPS-OPS faction as the happiest day for the party. Palaniswami, the present chief minister of Tamil Nadu, enjoys support of a majority of members, both in the organizational and legislature wings of the AIADMK,” the EC’s order said. The court’s direction came after it had earlier directed the Tamil Nadu State Election Commission (TNSEC) to conduct local body polls by 17 November. The 83-page EC order relied mainly on the principle of higher legislative and organizational strength to allot the symbol. While the EPS-OPS faction had the support of 34 Lok Sabha members, eight Rajya Sabha members, 111 MLAs in Tamil Nadu and four MLAs in Puducherry, the Sasikala faction claimed the support of three members each of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and 20 MLAs in Tamil Nadu (18 of whom stood disqualified on grounds of defection).

Source: Mint November 23, 2017 09:17 UTC