Sasikala (File photo)

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission has refused to accept the reply filed by AIADMK on behalf of incarcerated party general secretary VK Sasikala , to a plea challenging her appointment as party general secretary .

The ground cited by the poll panel is that the reply was signed by TTV Dinakaran , who is not a party office-bearer as per records available with the EC.

Dinakaran, Sasikala's nephew, was appointed as interim deputy general secretary of the party on February 23.

"There is an issue regarding Dinakaran having signed the letter. He is not an office-bearer as per our records. The Commission has asked Sasikala to either sign the reply herself or authorise anybody else to file the reply on her behalf," a Nirvachan Sadan officer told TOI on Friday.

The AIADMK response to a plea filed with EC by 12 rebel party MPs from the O Panneerselvam camp had defended Sasikala's appointment as interim general secretary of the party in the wake of J Jayalalithaa's demise.

It be recalled that the rebel MPs had challenged Sasikala's appointment on the ground that party cadre or primary members, and not the general council, could elect the general secretary.

Also, it argued that Sasikala was ineligible to contest for general secretary's post as she was expelled for a few months in 2011-12, causing a break in her primary membership of the party.

As per the AIADMK constitution, a candidate must hold continuous primary membership of the party for five years to contest for the general secretary's post.

The EC had forwarded the petition to Sasikala at her prison address, seeking her response.

AIADMK, in its reply filed on her behalf on February 28, submitted that the party general council was fully competent to take decisions including appointments in contingency situations. Also, it was argued that since Sasikala's expulsion was revoked by Jayalalithaa, it was void ab initio and that there was no break in her primary membership.



In Video: EC rejects AIADMK's reply on Sasikala's elevation, objects to Dinakaran's signature on letter