AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami on Wednesday removed party leaders Velumani and Shanmugam from their posts. This came shortly after 25 AIADMK MLAs extended their support to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay during the floor test in assembly. Several other leaders, including C Vijayabaskar and Natham R Viswanathan, have also been removed for defying party's diktat on trust vote.
Earlier, at a press briefing held at his residence, Shanmugam strongly criticized EPS, raising doubts about the validity of the party whip issued prior to the trust vote. He claimed that the AIADMK MLAs had never been called for a meeting to formally choose the Assembly leader, deputy leader, or whip, which contradicts the assertions made by the EPS faction.
He also claimed that EPS’ letter submitted to the speaker was “forged”.
Vijay-led TVK government wins trust vote
The four-day-old TVK government in Tamil Nadu has successfully cleared its first major test, winning the trust vote in the Assembly on Wednesday. The motion was passed comfortably with a margin of 144 votes to 22.
Chief Minister Vijay secured the confidence of the House with backing from 25 rebel MLAs of the AIADMK. The Opposition DMK, which has 59 members in the 234-seat Assembly, staged a walkout during the proceedings in protest.
Allegations of horse-trading were raised by the Opposition during the debate, but these were firmly denied by Chief Minister Vijay. He said his government would remain secular and continue implementing welfare schemes introduced by earlier administrations.
AIADMK split wide open
In the voting, 22 AIADMK MLAs loyal to party leader Edappadi K Palaniswami voted against the government. However, 25 other AIADMK legislators, linked to the group led by Shanmugam and Velumani, supported the confidence motion as they had earlier announced.
The government also received support from several other parties and members. This included the Congress, VCK, Left parties, IUML, and independent MLA S Kamaraj, who was earlier expelled from AMMK for backing the TVK government.
While the PMK, which has four MLAs, and one BJP MLA chose to abstain from voting, the combined support helped the Vijay-led administration secure a clear and decisive victory in the trust vote.
ALSO READ: AIADMK feud: Shanmugam calls EPS' whip letter 'forged' as 25 MLAs back TVK during trust vote
