CHENNAI: Rival factions of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) on Thursday submitted petitions to Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker JC D Prabhakar seeking MLAs to disqualify each other after the party split over extending support to the ruling Tamil Nadu Vetri Kazhagam (TVK).
A delegation led by senior AIADMK leader KP Munusamy, who belongs to the faction headed by party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, met the Speaker and later visited Lok Bhavan, the governor’s official residence, seeking the disqualification of 25 MLAs allied with leaders C Ve Shanmugham and SP Velumani.
The rival faction also met the Speaker and sought to disqualify 22 MLAs who support Palaniswami’s camp, a senior party leader said.
The AIADMK, which won 47 seats as part of the National Democratic Alliance in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, is now divided over support for the ruling TVK government.
During the floor test in the Assembly on May 13, 25 legislators belonging to the Shanmugam faction voted for the TVK government, while 22 legislators from the Palaniswami faction opposed it.
Former minister C Vijayabhaskar, who claimed to be the party’s officially recognized whip in the Assembly, said the faction sought action against 22 MLAs for defying the whip.
Shanmugam had earlier claimed that his faction had majority support among AIADMK legislators and held a legislative party meeting where Velumani was elected leader of the legislative party and Vijayabhaskar was appointed whip.
“The legislative party is decided by the majority of MLAs and we have the majority. As a whip and as per protocol, I contacted all the 47 legislators via WhatsApp and email asking them to vote for the state government. But the 22 MLAs did not follow through. They did not obey the instructions given by me. Since we have the majority, we have asked the Speaker to take action as per law and disqualify them,” Vijayabhaskar said.
He added that the Speaker of the House of Representatives received the memorandum and expressed his hope that a “good” decision would be reached.
Speaking to reporters, Velumani said that Palaniswami, as general secretary, had no authority to expel party members once division emerged.
“If there is a rift or division in an organization due to a difference of opinion, no decision can be taken from that date onwards,” he said, adding that the differences within the party came to the surface on May 5.
Velumani Palaniswami also demanded a general council meeting to discuss the reasons for the party’s defeat in the elections.
“We have come in third place in these elections. We must sit together and decide what are the reasons behind this. The party must be strengthened and this is our goal,” he said.
However, Munusamy maintained that only the party general secretary has the power to expel members for anti-party activities.
He said: “Following the developments witnessed in the Assembly on May 13, a letter of complaint was submitted to the Speaker of the House of Representatives as well as to the Governor requesting that action be taken because they acted in violation of the instructions of the Secretary-General.”
