Chennai: Amidst speculations, three dissident AIADMK MLAs, who shifted their loyalty to T. T. V. Dhinakaran during the recent Lok Sabha elections, will be served with a showcause notice, a preliminary step to disqualify them. The speaker disqualified 18 MLAs of T. T. V. Dhinakaran's faction in September 2017, and his action was upheld by the high court.
Chief Government Whip S. Rajendran on Friday submitted his recommendation to Assembly speaker P. Dhanapal seeking action against the three dissident AIADMK MLAs - E. Rathinasabapathy (Aranthangi), V. T. Kalaiselvan (Vridhachalam) and A. Prabhu (Kallakurichi), for 'anti-party activities'. Soon after submitting the letter, Mr Rajendran said that the three MLAs had been extending their support to the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam(AMMK) leader T. T. V. Dhinakaran for the past few months. He said that visual evidence of their association with Mr Dhinakaran had been submitted to the speaker, and hopes that legal action is taken against them.
Rejecting the speculations of the AIADMK, Rajendran said that he is expecting his party to win all the seats in the 18th April Lok Sabha poll and by-election to the 18 Assembly constituencies.
Based on the recommendation, speaker P. Dhanapal is likely to issue showcause notices to the accused MLAs, seeking an explanation as to why they should not be acted against.
It may be noted that on August 22, 2017, 19 AIADMK MLAs of T. T. V. Dhinakaran's faction met the Governor Vidyasagar Rao and handed him letters stating that they had lost confidence in Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami. Based on a complaint from the AIADMK party whip Rajendran, the speaker disqualified 18 of the 19 MLAs on September 18, 2017, under the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly (Disqualification on Ground of Defection) Rules, 1986. One of the MLAs, Jakkaiyan defected to Palaniswami's side. A year later, Madras High Court upheld the order of speaker. On 18th April, the Election Commission held by-elections to the 18 Assembly constituencies.
Mr Rajendran accused that the three dissident MLAs had reportedly campaigned for the AMMK. While Rathinasabapathy and Kalaiselvan extended their support to T. T. V. Dhinakaran in August 2017, Prabhu aided the AMMK general secretary in February last year.
The total current strength of the Assembly is 212 of which, 114 members belong to the AIADMK, while 88 MLAs from the DMK, 8 from Congress, 1 from UIML, and 1 independent candidate comprise the rest.
The Election Commission has taken steps to hold to four more Assembly constituencies on May 19.
