Congress to vote against confidence motion in TN assembly special session

The Congress is all set to vote against the confidence motion to be moved by Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palanisamy today even as the Tamil Nadu assembly gets ready for its first-floor test in 30 years.

Elaborate security arrangements have been made to ensure smooth functioning of the motion.

The political stalemate in the state looks far from getting resolved as former chief minister O. Panneerselvam and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leaders backing him met Assembly Speaker P. Dhanapal to demand a secret ballot for confidence vote. AIADMK whip R. Rajendran, thereafter, issued a direction to all members to be present in the assembly and vote for or against the motion.

Ahead of the crucial 'floor test', Panneerselvam appealed to AIADMK MLAs to vote against Palanisamy.

Following the Supreme Court order, Sasikala stood disqualified to take over as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. The party leadership then appointed Palanisamy as the new legislative leader. But, soon after taking the oath as the chief minister of the state, Palanisamy lost a few MLAs, who went ahead and declared support to Panneerselvam, who now heads the rebel AIADMK.