Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam (L), AIADMK deputy general secretary TTV Dinakaran (C) and Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami (R).
A day after the two rival factions of the AIADMK set aside their differences and joined hands, 19 MLAs supporting the party deputy general secretary, TTV Dinakaran, met Tamil Nadu Governor Vidyasagar Rao at the Raj Bhavan and withdrew their support to Chief Minister Edapaddi Palaniswami.
On Monday, Palaniswami and his predecessor O Panneerselvam ended weeks of uncertainty and struck a merger deal. OPS was sworn in as the deputy chief minister and was also given charge of finance, a portfolio he held under J Jayalalithaa.
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AIADMK crisis LIVE UPDATES:
1.00 pm: Meanwhile, Dinkaran sacks AIADMK MP Vaithilingam, according to news agency ANI. On Monday, Vaithilingam said that Sasikala will be removed from the party soon.
12.30 pm: “In the wake of 22 MLAs withdrawing support for CM, we demand for a no-confidence motion,” M K Stalin told reporters.
12.15 pm: PM Modi, who delivered an anti-corruption speech on August 15 ,has helped to merge two corrupt factions in Tamil Nadu and blessed them too, says Opposition leader and DMK working president M K Stalin.
12.05 pm Sources told The Indian Express that the Dinakaran camp wants Palaniswami to invite them for talks and avoid taking any action against general secretary Palaniswami.
12.00 pm: With the MLAs officially withdrawing their support to Chief Minister Edapaddi Palaniswami, it will be interesting to see whether the Governor calls for a floor test.
11.40 am: Here are excerpts of the petition (accessed by The News Minute) submitted by the Dinakaran loyalists to the Governor.
“I hereby express my lack of confidence on Mr. Edappadi K Palaniswami and withdraw my earlier support given to him vide this communication. I hereby submit that I have not given up my membership of the AIADMK and I am only doing my duty as a conscious citizen to express the abuse and misuse of the Constitution provision.”
“Mr Edappadi Palaniswami is corrupt and encouraging corruption at several levels, which is also causing severe damage to the name of the party,” states the petitions.
“In the first week of August 2017, Mr O Panneerselvam had given a press statement saying that the present Tamil Nadu government is totally filled with corrupt practices. But within a span of two weeks, the Chief Minister had included Panneerselvam as the Deputy CM. This reveals their favouritism, abuse of power and misusing of government machinery to cover up their corrupt practices.”
11.20 am: The Tamil Nadu Assembly has been reduced to 233 members after the death of J Jayalalithaa. If DMK working president M K Stalin moves a no confidence motion in the House, the AIADMK government would need at least the support of 117 MLAs to prove majority.
11.00 am: The 19 AIADMK MLAs will submit a memorandum to Governor Vidyasagar Rao stating they have lost their faith in Edapaddi Palaniswami, a leader they elected six months ago, and will demand their removal.
10.50 am: Dinakaran, in a series of tweets, hit out at the merger and claimed the AIADMK cadre will never accept the removal of V K Sasikala as general secretary. “What happened was not a merger. It was a business deal for the gain of certain individuals and to help them retain posts. The cadre will never accept their move to remove the General Secretary. They betrayed the General Secretary who made Edappadi Palaniswami the Chief Minister,” he said.
10.40 am: Two hours after the two rival factions struck a merger deal, the 18 MLAs who sided with Dinakaran arrived at Jayalalithaa’s memorial at Marina Beach and meditated for around 15 minutes.
10.30 am:
#Visuals TTV #Dinakaran supporting 19 MLAs arrive at Raj Bhawan to meet TN Governor C Vidyasagar Rao #AIADMKMerger pic.twitter.com/IUzeCPOVft
— ANI (@ANI) August 22, 2017
