No floor test in Tamil Nadu Assembly till Sept 20: HC

Interim order passed on petitions by DMK president M K Stalin and Dhinakaran loyalist MLA P Vetrivel

In a new twist to the ongoing political tussle in the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), the Madras High Court has ordered that no floor test would be conducted in the Tamil Nadu Assembly till September 20.

The interim order was passed on petitions by DMK working president M K Stalin and MLA P Vetrivel, a staunch loyalist of ousted AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran.

In the petition, they apprehended that Speaker P Dhanapal might disqualify the 19 legislators loyal to Dhinkaran in view of their rebellion against Chief Minister K Palaniswami as the disqualification proceedings are pending. 

The court has asked the Advocate General to get information on whether the Speaker is planning to pass any orders related to the 19 MLAs who are with the Dhinakaran faction. 

The move comes a day after the merged AIADMK factions of E Palaniswami and O Pannerselvam formally announced the ousting of V K Sasikala, from the position of interim general secretary of the party and nullifying all her decisions, including appointment of Dhinakaran as the deputy general secretary of the party.

The government said the Speaker is taking action on the issue and the Court may not be able to interfere in this matter at this stage.

With the party split into two factions, the Dhinakaran section has support of at least 19 MLAs, most of whom are staying together in an undisclosed location.

DMK and Dhinakaran faction alleges that the merged factions, which rules the government now, is planning to expel the opposing MLAs, including the 19 AIADMK MLAs before a floor test, which would ensure the government a majority on the floor. 

Of the total 233 seats, except one nominated member and a vacant seat due to the death of Jayalalithaa, the ruling party has around 134 members in the Assembly and require 117 votes to continue in power. If the 19 MLAs are kept away from voting, the Palaniswami government can prove its majority, the Dhinakaran faction alleged.

P Vetrivel, one of the MLAs with the Dhinakaran faction who approached the Court on the matter, earlier met the Speaker a couple of times, as the Speaker has issued notice to all the 19 MLAs after they submitted letter to Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao citing that they have lost their trust in the chief minister.