Eighteen AIADMK MLAs Supporting T T V Dinakaran Disqualified By Tamil Nadu Speaker

Cracking the whip, Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker P Dhanapal today disqualified 18 All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) owing allegiance to "removed" party leader T T V Dhinakaran.

The action against the 18 MLAs, who had revolted against Chief Minister E K Palaniswami last month, was taken under anti-defection and disqualification rules of 1986 formed by the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, said a statement from Assembly Secretary K Bhoopathy.

The MLAs who have been disqualified with effect from today are Thangatamilselvan, R Murugan, Mariappan Kennedy, K Kathirkamu, C Jayanthi Padmanabhan, P Palaniappan, V Senthil Balaji, S Muthiah, P Vetrivel, NG Parthiban, M Kothandapani, TA Elumalai, M Rengasamy, R Thangadurai, R Balasubramani, SG Subramanian, R Sundarraj and K Uma Maheswari.

The said MLAs, besides another, had on 22 August met the Tamil Nadu Governor C Vidyasagar and conveyed that they had lost confidence in Palaniswami, who is facing a challenge from Dhinakaran.

One of the dissident MLAs, S K T Jakkaiyan, had later switched camps to support Palaniswami. These MLAs had since been demanding the removal of the chief minister.

The meeting of 22 August had come a day after the formal merger of the two factions led by Palaniswami and then rebel leader and now Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam.

Earlier, Chief Government Whip S Rajendran had urged the Speaker to disqualify the said MLAs for "anti-party activities" following their revolt against the Chief Minister.

Though the Speaker had issued notices to all the dissident MLAs seeking their individual presence, they had, however, not turned up.

A resolution adopted at a meeting chaired by Palaniswami on 28 August had said Dhinakaran was "removed" from the post of deputy general secretary.

Opposition parties have since been insisting the Governor direct a floor test for the Palaniswami government for proving its majority in the Assembly. In the 234-member house, AIADMK has a strength of 134 MLAs. The R K Nagar seat fell vacant last year following the death of the then chief minister J Jayalalithaa. The Opposition's strength is 98 MLAs including DMK's 89, 8 of Congress and one of IUML.

(PTI)