Will appreciate if 8 disqualified MLAs rejoin AIADMK: TN CM

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK Joint Coordinator K. Palaniswami on Monday said it will be appreciated if eight of the disqualified legislators rejoin the party.

Replying to a question on whether the eight legislators, including Thanga Tamilselvan, would rejoin the AIADMK, Palaniswami said it is only the media which is saying it and he is not aware of any such development. But he added that if they do, it would be appreciated.

On whether the eight would be offered a berth in his Ministry, Palaniswami told reporters in Tiruchirapalli, about 335 km from here, that "legal position is well known on the matter. There is a legal ban on bypoll".

Eighteen AIADMK legislators were disqualified as lawmakers by Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker P. Dhanapal after they met the Governor and gave a memorandum expressing loss of confidence in K. Palaniswami and requested him to appoint a new Chief Minister.

The disqualified legislators filed a case against the Speaker's action. On June 14, a two-member bench of Madras High Court gave a split verdict with the Chief Justice Indira Banerjee upholding the disqualification while companion judge Justice M. Sundar ruling that the Speaker's decision was invalid.

--IANS

vj/him/mr