The AIADMK coordinator, O. Panneerselvam, reached out to co-coordinator, Edappadi K Palaniswami, to get forms ‘A’ and ‘B’ submitted to the State Election Commission (SEC) for letting the party’s authorised candidates contest the July 9 by-elections.
However, sources say that Palaniswami has refused to accept the letter.
If the tussle over the single leadership doesn’t get solved, party members would have to contest in the upcoming casual local body elections as independent candidates without the two-leaves symbol, owing to the AIADMK not issuing them authorisation letters.
The casual local body election is scheduled for July 9 in one ward in a municipality, four wards in two town panchayats, and six wards in panchayat unions in the southern districts (excluding village panchayat ward members and village panchayat presidents posts). The vote counting is slated for July 12.