(liveMint)
All eyes will be on the Madras high court on Wednesday when it takes up the disqualification of rebel All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) MLAs as well as the opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s (DMK) plea on convening the assembly to hold a floor test of chief minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s government.
Tamil Nadu speaker P. Dhanapal on Monday disqualified 18 legislators from the ruling party’s faction led by T.T.V. Dhinakaran citing anti-defection rules under Schedule 10 of the Constitution and, within hours, declared their assembly constituencies vacant as per provisions under Article 190 of the Constitution. Dhinakaran is the nephew of ousted AIADMK general secretary V.K. Sasikala, currently serving a four-year jail term in a disproportionate wealth case.
Last week, while hearing the DMK’s plea, the high court had stayed any move to hold a trust vote until 20 September. As attempts were made by the ruling party to disqualify dissident legislators, the DMK argued that the government was creating the conditions to turn Palaniswami’s minority government into a majority one.
