Chennai, Feb 1 (PTI) Former Tamil Nadu chief minister O Panneerselvam, heading the rival AIADMK faction, on Wednesday announced his party's candidate for the February 27 by-election to Erode East Assembly constituency.

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Hours after former chief minister K Palaniswami, leading the dominant faction, named former legislator K S Thennarasu as the AIADMK candidate, his estranged colleague Panneerselvam convened a press conference and announced his nominee -- Senthil Murugan.

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Asked about the confusion his decision in contesting against another AIADMK candidate would create, Panneerselvam replied that his group was the real AIADMK. "I am still the coordinator of AIADMK and our candidate will get the Two Leaves symbol," he claimed.

However, in the event of the BJP deciding to contest, his candidate would withdraw from the race, he said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)