TN Assembly Secretary officially notifies Hosur constituency as vacant

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Assembly Secretary K Srinivasan, on Tuesday, officially notified that the Hosur assembly constituency was vacant, making it the 21st vacant MLA seat in the State. 

In a house with an original strength of 234, 18 MLAs belonging to the ruling AIADMK's rebel camp were already disqualified. Further two more members, including DMK leader and former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, had passed away. 

The latest vacancy was due to the conviction of Tamil Nadu Youth Welfare and Sports Development Minister P Balakrishna Reddy who was also the MLA of Hosur, in a decades-old rioting case. 

Only on Monday, the Supreme Court had rejected a plea by Reddy to suspend his conviction. With the assembly secretary officially intimating the Election Commission of the vacancy, Reddy may have lost all chances of a legal remedy. 

Reddy was convicted, along with 15 others, by a special court in January in a case of unlawful assembly and rioting and sentenced to three years' imprisonment. Reddy was allegedly a part of a group of protesters that damaged buses and set fire to police vehicles in the Bagalur village of Hosur, in 1998. The group had rioted against alleged police inaction in closing down illicit arrack outlets. 

The bypolls for the 21 vacant constituencies may be held along with the Lok Sabha elections. The ruling party must win at least around ten seats to retain majority in the house.