The chief whip of the ruling AIADMK S. Rajendran and state Law Minister C.V. Shanmugam on Friday met Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker P. Dhanapal and submitted a petition to take appropriate action against three legislators for indulging in anti-party activities.
Reacting to the development, DMK President M.K. Stalin said the party would bring a no confidence motion against the Speaker if he takes action against the three AIADMK legislators.
Speaking to reporters here, Rajendran said he had met the Speaker and submitted a petition to take action against three legislators -- A. Prabhu representing the Kallakuruchi constituency, Rathinasabapathy (Aranthangi) and V.T. Kalaiselvan (Virudhachalam) -- for their anti-party activities.
Rajendran said the party had got more proof of their prejudicial activities and hence submitted a petition to the Speaker.
He said that photographs of the legislators with the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) General Secretary T.T.V. Dhinakaran have also been been submitted.
All this has led to speculation about whether there would be a rerun of the earlier disqualification of 18 legislators by the Speaker.
The by-elections for 18 Assembly constituencies were held on April 18, while the remaining four will vote on May 19.
In the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, the ruling AIADMK has 114 MLAs (including the Speaker), the DMK 88 and the Congress 8, while the IUML and an Independent represent one constituency each.
The AIADMK has to win just four seats in the by-elections to attain a simple majority. But factoring in the possible switching of camps by some lawmakers, the AIADMK needs to win seven or eight seats in order to be safe.
On the other hand, the DMK has to win all the 22 seats to take its tally, along with its allies Congress and IUML, to 119, one more than what is required for a simple majority.
Stalin had said during his campaign that there will be a change of government in Tamil Nadu, along with a change at the Centre after the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
Analysts are of the view that even if Dhinakaran's AMMK wins a couple of seats, the DMK's dream of coming to power by toppling the AIADMK government may not come true.
When queried whether the AIADMK is seeking action against the three legislators as it was not confident of winning the required number of seats in the by-elections, Rajendran said the party will win all the seats it is contesting.
According to Stalin, the Speaker should not try to secure majority for the AIADMK through the backdoor.
--IANS
vj/arm
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
