Political manoeuvring within the ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu saw another twist, with 18 of its MLAs disqualified by the Assembly Speaker, P Dhanapal.

The MLAs owing allegiance to the ousted AIADMK Deputy General Secretary TTV Dinakaran had submitted letters to the Tamil Nadu Governor expressing their lack of confidence in the Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, though they reiterated their support to the ruling party.

According to an official announcement on Monday, the Speaker disqualified the MLAs under the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly (Disqualification on Ground of Defection) Rules, 1986.

P Vetrivel, MLA, a Dinakaran supporter, and a disqualified member, told the media that they had not disobeyed a party whip or defected for them to be disqualified. The Assembly was not in session for any whip to be issued. The members will approach the Court for relief, he said.

Magic number This disqualification will help the AIADMK get around the loss of majority support in the 234-member Assembly. They do not have the ‘magic number of 117’, but with 18 members disqualified, the half way point is lowered, said Vetrivel. This action by the Speaker comes against the backdrop of Opposition, including the main Opposition in the House, the DMK, demanding Palaniswami prove his majority. The political opponents have repeatedly urged the Governor to convene the Assembly for the ruling party to prove its majority. With at least 21 of AIADMK’s own members allied against the Chief Minister, he does not have a majority, they insist. The main Opposition DMK had earlier approached the Madras High Court seeking the Court’s intervention to stop the Speaker disqualifying 21 of its MLAs. They were facing action for brining packets of banned chewing tobacco products into the Assembly during the last session.

The Opposition leader and DMK Working President, MK Stalin, and others had expressed concerns that the Speaker may take action to balance out the numbers in the 234-member Assembly. In the running battle in which Palaniswami and the Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam allied to expel Dinakaran and his aunt VK Sasikala, the General Secretary of the AIADMK, the ruling party has been split. Sasikala is in jail on corruption charges relating to amassing wealth and had appointed Dinakaran to head the party.

Opposition’s reaction Reacting to the disqualification of ruling party MLAs, Stalin said it was unfortunate that the Speaker had opted to disqualify the members. Such action is normally taken only when a party whip is disobeyed when the House is in session. He wondered why a similar action had not been taken six months back when four MLAs had demanded action when the faction led by Panneerselvam had voted against the Palaniswami government.

Meanwhile, the disqualified members have approached the Madras High Court.

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