Awrit petition has been filed in the Madras High Court to restrain the Election Commission (EC) from recognising the election process in AIADMK, in which O Panneerselvam and Edappadi K Palaniswami were elected as party coordinator and joint coordinator unopposed.

The petition, moved by AIADMK party member J Jayachandran, sought an interim injunction from the EC recognising the election, claiming that bylaws were changed recently to make sure that the two former chief ministers of Tamil Nadu stick to their position in AIADMK.

Panneerselvam and Palaniswami were on Monday elected unopposed as party coordinator and joint coordinator respectively. The top two posts together constitute the party’s top leadership.

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On December 1, the AIADMK amended its bylaws at its general council meeting. The move was seen as to retain and strengthen the present leadership structure of top two positions held by Panneerselvam and Palaniswami.

According to the changes, the coordinator and joint coordinator would be elected by the party’s primary members as against the general council choosing them. While the posts are two, there cannot be separate votes, as the twin positions together constitute the party top leadership, effectively a single entity.