Dinakaran with AIADMK MLAs from his camp after meeting the Governor in Chennai on Tuesday. PTI
A day after two factions of the AIADMK buried the hatchet, 19 MLAs supporting the T T V Dinakaran faction on Tuesday demanded that Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao take action against Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami for alleged abuse of power, corruption and favouritism. While it is clear that a confidence motion would topple the government at this stage, the strategy of the Dinakaran faction appears to be to oust Palaniswami from his post and stake claim for the government with a CM candidate of their own. They expect the other MLAs to cooperate to retain their positions, sources said.
A source close to Dinakaran said he has 19 party MLAs and three independent MLAs in his camp. Eight other MLAs, including four ministers, are expected to join him soon. Most of the MLAs backing Dinakaran are related to the Sasikala family or have got key posts through her. Some 17 rebel MLAs would be enough to topple the government in the 233-member House. “The number of MLAs supporting TTV is likely to touch 30 in one or two days,” a minister told The Indian Express. Senior ministers K T Rajendra Balaji and O S Manian were among those who had heated arguments against the removal of AIADMK general secretary Sasikala during the final talks before the merger announcement.
A senior MLA in the Dinakaran camp said their strategy would be to oust Palaniswami as CM. “He was the backstabber. Rajya Sabha MP R Vaithilingam will also regret his statement against Sasikala on Monday, forgetting the fact that it was Sasikala who gave him key party posts,” he said. Vaithilingam, who was elected a joint coordinator of the united AIADMK, was expelled from party’s primary membership on Tuesday by the Dinakaran camp for his statement against Sasikala. Some 15 MLAs of the Dinakaran camp were shifted to a private resort near Puducherry on Tuesday evening — reminiscent of the strategy of the Sasikala faction in March 2016 followed by the revolt of the then chief minister O Panneerselvam.
An MLA in the Dinakaran camp said that withdrawing support to the government may be the last option. “This is Amma’s (late J Jayalalithaa) government. We will fight for it until the last moment, and will go to the extreme only if it becomes clear that it is no more an AIADMK government but a BJP puppet,” he said. Multiple messengers from the Dinakaran camp, followed by the meeting of 19 MLAs with the Governor, conveyed their message to the Palaniswami camp on Tuesday. They had two key demands — cancel the decision to remove Sasikala from the party and share Cabinet posts as per Dinakaran’s wish.
CM should prove majority: DMK
DMK leader M K Stalin was quick to step in. “PM Narendra Modi delivered an Independence Day speech against corruption. And the same Modi has helped merge two corrupt groups in Tamil Nadu and blessed them. With 22 AIADMK MLAs saying they have lost trust in EPS, the Governor should ask him to prove majority,” he told the media. A letter sent from Stalin’s office to Raj Bhavan raised the same demand, citing “an unprecedented constitutional crisis” in the state. Sources close to Raj Bhavan said that Rao, unlike last time, may have to call a floor test without delay. The office of the Governor was unavailable for comment.
