The new AIADMK government led by Edappadi K Palaniswami will seek a vote of confidence at a special session of the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Saturday, even as principal Opposition DMK said it would vote against the motion.
Palaniswami claims to have the support of 124 of the 134 AIADMK MLAs in the 234-member House.
O Panneeerselvam, who helmed the previous AIADMK government and was eased out earlier this month when the party General Secretary VK Sasikala made a bid for the chief minister’s post, claims the support of 10 MLAs. More legislators will vote against Palaniswami if allowed to act free, he says.
Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition and DMK Working President MK Stalin told the media after a meeting of the party’s 89 MLAs that they would “vote against the AIADMK government” during the confidence motion. The Indian Union Muslim League, an ally of the DMK, with one MLA has also decided to vote against the government.
The Congress, which has eight MLAs in the House, is awaiting word from the Congress high command.
Meanwhile, the AIADMK’s former Presidium Chairman E Madhusudhanan has reiterated his support for the former CM, and annulled Sasikala’s announcement re-inducting her nephews TTV Dinakaran and S Venkatesh into the party on Tuesday. Sasikala had also made Dinakaran the Deputy General Secretary of the Party before surrendering before a Special Court in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
Madhusudhanan also removed Sasikala as primary member of the party as she had interfered in its functioning, breaking an assurance made to Jayalalithaa.
However, Sasikala had removed Madhusudhanan from the primary membership of AIADMK on February 10. She had also expelled 20 others, including Panneerselvam and senior leaders C Ponnaiyan and others when they rebelled against her leadership.