AIADMK political crisis: Speaker accepts fourth MLA’s resignation in a fresh setback; party strength drops to 43

NEW DELHI: Tamil Nadu Assembly speaker J C D Prabhakar on Tuesday accepted the resignation of Ambasamudram AIADMK MLA Esakki Subaya, further escalating the political turmoil within the opposition party.The speaker had initially rejected Subaya’s resignation letter and asked him to submit a handwritten copy.As per news agency PTI, Subaya immediately withdrew the typed letter and submitted a handwritten resignation, which was later accepted by the speaker.With Subaya’s exit, the total number of resignations from the AIADMK camp has risen to four in two days, reducing the party’s strength in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly to 43 MLAs.The latest resignation comes a day after AIADMK legislators Maragatham Kumaravel, P Sathyabama and S Jayakumar resigned from the Assembly and later joined the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), led by chief minister C Joseph Vijay.As per news agency ANI, 27 AIADMK MLAs are currently backing party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, while 16 legislators are aligned with senior leaders S P Velumani and C Ve Shanmugam.Subaya also belongs to the rebel camp and had voted in favour of the TVK government during the May 13 confidence motion.He is also expected to join the ruling party.Earlier, senior AIADMK leaders met speaker Prabhakar and submitted a petition urging him not to accept the resignations of the rebel MLAs, arguing that anti-defection proceedings against them were already pending.AIADMK leader IS Inbadurai said the resignations violated the anti-defection law. “The speaker should not accept the resignation as it is against the anti-defection law,” he told reporters.The AIADMK had earlier sought disqualification of 25 rebel MLAs for allegedly defying Palaniswami’s directive and supporting the TVK government during the floor test.AIADMK leader Thalavai N Sundaram warned that the party would move court if the speaker failed to properly scrutinise the resignations. “If there is no solution from the speaker then we will go to the court,” he said.Responding to the criticism, speaker Prabhakar maintained that he was acting strictly within the legal framework. “My job is to see if the letters are appropriate and work within the legal framework to accept it,” he said.The resignations have sparked allegations of “horse-trading” from both the AIADMK and the DMK.On Monday, DMK chief M K Stalin accused the ruling TVK of orchestrating defections at “horse-speed”, while Palaniswami termed the developments a “pre-planned conspiracy”.Congress MP S Jothimani criticised the developments and said the Congress cannot support “horse-trading” in Tamil Nadu while opposing it elsewhere.The number of vacant Assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu has now increased to five, including Tiruchirappalli East, which was vacated earlier by Vijay after winning from two seats. Bypolls are expected in all the vacant constituencies.