A total of 13 Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) members, who were recently elected to the Assembly in the bypolls, were administered the oath of office by Assembly Speaker P. Dhanapal here on Tuesday.
DMK president and Leader of the Opposition M.K. Stalin, DMK principal secretary T.R. Baalu and senior DMK leaders were present during the event in the Speaker’s chamber in the Assembly building in Fort St. George campus.
With these 13 DMK MLAs, the total number of DMK MLAs has gone up to 101 in the House. DMK allies Congress and Indian Union Muslim League have eight and one members respectively. However, the Congress’ tally would go down by one as Nanguneri MLA H. Vasanthkumar has been elected to the Lok Sabha.
Newly-elected DMK MLAs at their swearing-in at Speaker P. Dhanapal’s chamber in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on May 28, 2019. | Photo Credit: R. Ragu
The new DMK legislators are — V. Senthil Balaji (Aravakurichi), P. Saravanan (Tirupparankundram), R.D. Shekar (Perambur), T.K.G. Neelamegham (Thanjavur), Poondi K. Kalaivanan (Tiruvarur), K.S. Saravanakumar (Periyakulam), S.A. Sathya (Hosur), L. Idhayavarman (Tiruporur), A. Krishnasamy (Poonamallee), M.C. Shanmugaiah (Ottapidaram), A.C. Vilwanathan (Ambur), S. Kathavarayan (Gudiyatham) and A. Maharajan (Andipatti).
The next Assembly session is likely to be convened in the second week of June.