Sleeper cells will come out during trust vote: TTV Dhinakaran

Chennai: Rebel AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran on Monday accused Speaker P. Dhanapal of siding with Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami in taking action against legislators supporting him and asserted that he would not hesitate to drag him to the Supreme Court for his decision to disqualify the MLAs.

Dhinakaran also said Palaniswami cannot postpone the floor test for long and asserted that his "sleeper cells" would come out publicly and vote against his government on the floor of the House.

"How long can they postpone or defer the floor test? They can postpone the floor test only till the next assembly session (due by the end of the year) and when the floor test happens, you will see how many MLAs really support me. Those with conscience and those who really love the AIADMK will vote against the Edappadi Government," Dhinakaran told reporters here.

He was responding to questions on ministers praising Sasikala and whether Sellur K. Raju was one of the members of the sleeper cell. Dhinakaran also said he was confident that the courts would strike down the disqualification of 18 MLAs supporting him and they will be able to participate in the trust vote as and when it happens.

Attacking Speaker Dhanapal for disqualifying 18 MLAs supporting him without any basis, Dhinakaran alleged that he was acting on the instructions from the Chief Minister. Dhinakaran also said though Speaker enjoys absolute powers inside the House, he should respect courts and law since he is also citizen of the country.

"Speaker has in fact acted against directives of the Supreme Court. I can actually file a contempt of court case against him. He has acted only on the CM's advice and we will not spare him. We will drag him to courts and get his disqualification order quashed," the former Periyakulam MP said. He also said Delhi police's assertion before a court that the voice in the recorded audio conversation was similar to that of his would in fact help him win the case. "They have said the voice is similar. I have not given my voice samples to the court. Similar does not mean the same. This will help us," he said.