HC reserves order on Dhinakaran's plea for interim name, symbol

The Delhi High Court today reserved its decision on a plea of T T V Dhinakaran, who heads a faction of the AIADMK, seeking a temporary name and symbol for his group till his claim to the party's symbol is decided. "Judgement reserved," Justice Rekha Palli said after conclusion of final arguments by the lawyers for Dhinakaran's faction, Election Commission and the faction of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E K Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam. Dhinakaran's faction, which also includes V K Sasikala, has sought allocation of the temporary symbol of 'pressure cooker' for the local body elections likely to be held soon, or any other poll during the pendency of his petition laying claim to the AIADMK symbol of 'two leaves'. The Sasikala-Dhinakaran faction has also given a list of three names -- All India Amma Anna Dhravidar Munnetra Kazhagam, MGR Amma Dravidar Munnetra Kazhagam and MGR Amma Dhravidar Kazhagam -- seeking that one of them be temporarily allotted to them. Their application for using a suitable name and symbol was moved in their main petition challenging the poll panel's November 23, 2017 decision holding the Palaniswami-Panneerselvam faction as the real AIADMK and allotting them the 'two-leaves' symbol. They have sought the allocation of a suitable name and symbol only till the pendency of the main petition, claiming that otherwise the Election Commission might declare it as a separate party.