E Palaniswami to go for floor test in TN Assembly today

Amidst a tumultuous political environment, the Tamil Nadu Assembly is going to conduct a special meeting on Saturday. The newly elected TN chief minister, E Palaniswami, would be required to prove his majority on the floor today, making the first floor test since three decades.

Meanwhile, MLA Arun Kumar who represents Kovai North and is from the Sasikala camp has decided to change his stand by refusing to participate in the floor test.

Until Friday, there were 11 dissidents- including the former state chief minister O Pannerselvam- from the ruling AIADMK that has a total strength of 134. On Friday, former Chennai Police Commissioner R Natraj, the AIADMK’s Mylapore constituency MLA, decided to throw join the Panneerselvam faction.

DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi would also be abstaining from the floor test due to ill health. Neither would the Speaker P Dhanapal be present during the floor test. Therefore, the effective strength of the assembly before the floor test would be 231 as against its full strength- 234.

To win the vote of confidence, Palaniswami would need the support of at least 116 MLAs (out of 231). As of now, 123 legislators of AIADMK are backing him.

Panneerselvam's hopes to gain from the defection of at least 9 more MLAs, which would be enough to destabilise the government.

Panneerselvam, in an appeal to AIADMK MLAs said, “I reiterate to AIADMK MLAs, please think wisely before casting your vote tomorrow. Don’t buckle under pressure. Amma continuously worked to see that family rule doesn’t enter Tamil politics. Your incorrect vote may harm the legacy left behind by Amma.”

However, Sasikala-led camp is confident that they will win the vote.

Pollachi Jayaraman, who is in Sasikala's camp, said that the MGR Rule will be re-instated as they have the support of a majority of MLAs.

Meanwhile, AIADMK's rival DMK has decided to vote against Chief Minister Palaniswamy, while its ally said it will announce its decision on Saturday morning.

DMK’s working president MK Stalin confirmed that all 89 MLAs of his party would be voting against Palaniswami in the floor test.