18 AIADMK MLAs loyal to TTV Dhinakaran disqualified by Tamil Nadu Speaker
- Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker P Dhanapal cracked the whip on the 18 rebel AIADMK MLAs owing allegiance to ousted party leader TTV Dhinakaran
- The MLAS have now been disqualified
- Vetrivel, one of the disqualified MLAs, says that the MLAs will approach the court seeking relief
FollowTamil Nadu Assembly Speaker P Dhanapal cracked the whip on the 18 rebel AIADMK MLAs owing allegiance to ousted party leader TTV Dhinakaran. The MLAS have now been disqualified with effect from Monday, September 18.
The action against the 18 MLAs, who had revolted against Chief Minister K Palaniswami last month, was taken under anti-defection and disqualification rules of 1986 formed in accordance with the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, said a statement from Assembly Secretary K Bhoopathy.Â
The MLAs who have been disqualified with effect from today are Thanga Tamilselvan, 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.Â
Dhinakaran had earlier moved Madras High Court amid apprehensions about possible disqualification of 19 dissident AIADMK MLAs by the Assembly Speaker.
The Madras High Court had then ordered that no floor test be conducted in state Assembly till September 20.
The said MLAs, besides another, had on August 22 met the Tamil Nadu Governor Ch Vidyasagar and conveyed that they had lost confidence in Palaniswami, who is facing a challenge from Dhinakaran.Â
"The EPS govt which can't prove majority in the floor of House is resorting to disqualification of MLAs. We will move court seeking relief," Vetrivel, one of the disqualified MLAs, told Times of India.
Vetrivel had earlier alleged that the MLAS, who were staying in resort at Coorg in Karnataka, were being intimidated by the Tamil Nadu police.
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Tamil Nadu State Election Commission moves Madras High Court to defer the direction to conduct local body polls by November 17th.
— ANI (@ANI) September 18, 2017
The Tamil Nadu State Election Commission has moved Madras High Court to defer the local body polls by November 17.
(With inputs from PTI)
