CHENNAI, May 30: With events in the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) taking an ugly turn, it will ultimately be left to the Election Commission to decide which group is to be recognised as the AIADMK.

So far, dissident leader S Thirunavukkarasu, who was expelled from the party on May 19, seems to have played his cards adroitly, with every measured step being aimed at obtaining the Election Commission's nod.

The Jayalalitha group, which has been thrown off-guard by the desertion of seven of its 14 MPs, has never had a happy relationship with the Election Commission. Jayalalitha's uneasy times with the EC date back to 1988, when her group sought to upstage the rival Janaki Ramachandran group during the split in the post-M G Ramachandran period.

The discomfort reached its peak thanks to her turbulent relationship with former chief election commissioner T N Seshan over attempts to disqualify her from membership of the Tamil Nadu Assembly. Jayalalitha's AIADMK also organised demonstrations against Seshan during two or three of his visits to the State, ostensibly to protest against certain remarks made by him against late chief minister C N Annadurai in his book. The CEC also underwent the mortification of having the hotel where he was staying subjected to stone-throwing by angry AIADMK cadres. Tamil Nadu was virtually declared out of bounds for Seshan till Jayalalitha, in a fit of magnanimity, called for an end to the demonstrations after Seshan tendered an apology.

The Thirunavukkarasu group's application to the Rajya Sabha chairman will ultimately have to be decided by the EC as matters relating to recognition and assessments of relative strengths are involved.

It is here that the developments over the next few days are crucial. Both sides have convened general council meetings of the AIADMK to drum up support. The EC will go into factors like the number of MPs, MLAs, elected general council members and other elected representatives on either side before coming to a conclusion. For the moment, it appears that the Thirunavukkarasu group has caused enough damage to the Jayalalitha group, having secured the support of seven MPs, and three of the eight MLAs, including the lone MLA from Karnataka.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.