CHENNAI: Supporters of
Tamil Nadu chief minister
Edappadi Palaniswami and his new deputy, O Panneerselvam, were still recovering from Monday’s merger celebrations when the T T V Dhinakaran camp drove 18 MLAs to a resort in
Puducherry, the action posing a threat to the government in the state.
Nineteen legislators had submitted letters on Tuesday morning to governor C
Vidyasagar Rao saying they had lost confidence in chief minister Palaniswami and were withdrawing support to him.
The MLAs said they were disillusioned with the functioning of the government headed by Palaniswami which was marked by “abuse of power, favouritism, misuse of government machinery and widespread corruption”. They argued that the EPS government has been effectively reduced to a minority. Of the 136 seats the AIADMK had won, the R K Nagar seat is still vacant and the Assembly Speaker can cast his vote only in case of a tie.
This means that the government has the support of only 115 MLAs, against the working majority of 118 in the 235-member House (including a nominated member who cannot vote).
We want a new confidence motion and Palaniswami replaced. He was handpicked by “Chinnamma” (
V K Sasikala) and now he has betrayed us,” Andipatti MLA Thangatamilselvan told reporters outside Dhinakaran’s residence. Sources said the
Sasikala clan was playing safe to ensure they did not antagonise the party rank and file in their fight against the heavyweights. “The message is that EPS, not the government, should go,” said a source.
“We have more MLAs supporting us than what OPS had. What was the necessity for EPS to accept OPS who voted against our government? It is only due to Chinnamma that the government survived the trust vote. EPS is a betrayer,” said Thangatamilselvan. He said the number of MLAs supporting TTV could increase in the next few days.
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