NEW DELHI: Political turmoil within the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam deepened on Tuesday after party MLA Esakki Subaya met Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker JCD Prabhakar and submitted his resignation letter, becoming the fourth legislator to quit the party within two days amid an escalating rebellion and defections to the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam.The latest resignation came a day after three AIADMK MLAs from the rebel camp led by senior leaders C Ve Shanmugam and S P Velumani resigned from the Assembly before joining the ruling TVK headed by Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay.The resignations have triggered a major political confrontation in Tamil Nadu, with the AIADMK accusing the ruling party of “horse trading” and attempting to engineer defections through the “back door”.Three MLAs resigned before joining TVKThe three MLAs who resigned on Monday were Madurantakam MLA Maragatham Kumaravel, Dharapuram MLA P Sathyabama and Perundurai MLA S Jayakumar.The trio submitted their resignation letters to Speaker JCD Prabhakar before heading to the Secretariat chamber of Public Works Department Minister Aadhav Arjuna, where they were formally welcomed into the TVK fold.The three legislators were among the 25 AIADMK MLAs who had voted in favour of the Vijay-led government during the May 13 trust vote, defying the party line.Speaker Prabhakar later confirmed that the resignations had been accepted under Assembly rules.“The resigning MLAs need not state the reason for their resignation. The resignation was accepted according to section 21 of TN assembly rules,” he said.
AIADMK alleges ‘horse trading ’
The development sparked strong reactions from the AIADMK leadership, which accused the ruling party of orchestrating defections to strengthen its numbers in the Assembly.Senior AIADMK leader and party whip Agri SS Krishnamoorthy alleged that the MLAs resigned only to escape possible disqualification proceedings under the anti-defection law.“We had sought action against 25 AIADMK MLAs under the anti-defection law for defying Palaniswami’s diktat on confidence vote. The Speaker had said it was under his consideration. Fearing action under the anti-defection law, the three tendered their resignations. When the earlier plea is pending, the Speaker accepting their resignations contravenes the rules. We filed a plea (on Tuesday) on behalf of AIADMK, saying he should not accept their resignation,” he told reporters.Krishnamoorthy further alleged that the MLAs had effectively joined TVK even before their resignations were formally processed.“Within five minutes of tendering their resignation, a “laminated TVK membership card was given” to the three persons,” he claimed.“People are asking if this is the Secretariat or TVK headquarters. If this government encourages such resignations, there will be heightened horse trading; the government should come forward to stop this,” he added.Targeting Chief Minister Vijay, Krishnamoorthy said: “To establish his rule through the back door, this government is doing horse-trading at the speed of a horse.”
AIADMK petitions Speaker
On Tuesday, AIADMK leaders Agri SS Krishnamoorthy and Rajya Sabha MP IS Inbadurai met the Speaker and submitted a representation urging him not to accept the resignations of the three MLAs, citing pending anti-defection proceedings.Inbadurai argued that legislators facing disqualification proceedings under the anti-defection law could not resign to avoid action.“They met a TVK minister before notification of their resignation….and they enacted a drama of formal joining (late in the evening). Still, the notification of their resignation (in a government gazette) had not come. So we have sought that their resignation should not be accepted,” he said.“MLAs cannot resign when action under the anti-defection law is sought. You can’t escape through the back door,” he added.
TVK dismisses allegations
TVK leaders denied allegations of horse trading and defended the resignations as voluntary political decisions taken by the legislators.Minister Aadhav Arjuna said the MLAs had joined the party without coercion and insisted none of them faced corruption charges.Maragatham Kumaravel also defended the move after joining the ruling party.“We were unable to fulfill the needs and demands of our constituents when we were in opposition (2021-2026). So, we took the decision to resign from our MLA posts in the best interest of people of our constituencies. This is our independent decision. It is more about self-respect, and there is no selfishness in our decision,” she said.Praising the Vijay government, she compared the Chief Minister’s brief tenure to that of former AIADMK supremo J. Jayalalithaa.She said Vijay’s governance reminded her of “Amma’s governance” because of women-centric welfare announcements and the revival of Amma canteens.
