Responding to two petitions filed by Rajya Sabha MP V Maitreyan and 11 other AIADMK parliamentarians challenging VK Sasikala’s elections as the interim General Secretary of the party, the Election Commission on Friday issued a notice to the jailed leader. She has been given time till February 28 to reply to the Commission’s notice.
On Thursday, AIADMK parliamentarians, reportedly owing allegiance to former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, had submitted two petitions to the Election Commission.
In its letter to Sasikala, the Commission has said that if she does not respond to the letter, the Commission would “presume that you have nothing to offer and the Commission will take appropriate action in the matter.”
It is believed that the AIADMK faction told the EC that the party had no provision for picking an interim General Secretary and so Sasikala’s appointment was invalid. They also stressed that all appointments made by Sasikala were also illegal.
She was sentenced to a four-year jail term on February 15 by the Supreme Court in a disproportionate assets case, thus legally barring her from holding any elected office for ten years.