OPS, EPS factions both join Erode bypoll contest, BJP caught in the middle

Meanwhile, fishing in the troubled waters, Paneerselvam or OPS has been saying that he would withdraw his candidate if the BJP fields one. The OPS faction’s candidate incidentally is a 42-year-old textile merchant Senthil Murugan, belonging to the Senguntha Mudaliyar community, with no political background.

EPS, who is the official interim general secretary of the AIADMK, on the other hand, has given a ticket to veteran K S Thennarasu, 65, a two-time former MLA from Erode seat (now known as Erode East), having won in 2001 and 2011. He is currently the secretary of the AIADMK Erode Urban District MGR Mandram and has been secretary of the Erode (East) Assembly constituency since 2011.

EPS posters first added “progressive” to the NDA name, hence changing it to the NDPA, which was seen as a gesture towards the constituency’s minority votes, who number over 50,000. By Wednesday evening, this had been changed to the AIADMK-led Alliance.

According to a top Chennai BJP leader, the party will take a call on its stand on the bypoll by Friday, during state chief K Annamalai’s visit to the national capital.

Explaining the party’s dilemma, the leader said: “Though OPS has assured us that he will drop his candidate if the BJP enters the race, we simply cannot afford to back his faction at this time. But some members of the party and a section in the RSS do not want us to support the EPS given the lack of clarity surrounding the AIADMK symbol… Retaining the alliance with the AIADMK is crucial for the BJP for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections… A boycott of the polls, on the other hand, might negatively affect trust in the alliance.”

Since last July, when the EPS faction of the AIADMK successfully took over the party, a legal dispute has been ongoing over who owns the party’s Two Leaves symbol. On Monday, the Supreme Court ordered the Election Commission to respond to EPS’s petition to recognise his appointment as interim general secretary, as announced at the party’s general council meeting on July 11, where he was backed by more than 2,600 general council members, 63 of the 66 MLAs, and a majority of the MPs and other office-bearers.

The EPS faction is hoping for a favourable order from the Supreme Court, having got one from the Madras High Court, which recognised him as the AIADMK sole chief.

From the DMK-Congress alliance side, the candidate is veteran leader and former Congress state chief E V K S Elangovan. The alliance has already begun campaigning for him.