Ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Member of Legsilative Assembly P Dhanapal on Wednesday became the first Dalit Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Assembly and said he would strive to uphold the ethos of the House. Party supremo and Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa led the assembly in greeting the 61 year-old Dhanapal, who was elected unopposed.
"A stand was taken to seek his (Dhanapal's) removal based on the circumstances at that point of time. The party, however, now feels that the motion was not warranted," Stalin said on the opening day of the assembly session in Chennai.
The ruling party's decision to serve 'disqualification' notice to three party MLAs when polling for four more assembly by-elections are due for May 19 may have been taken to keep the flock together post-results, rather than seek to lose more than already, but it has sent out alarming signals in a state ruled till recently by an Iron Lady, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Should the ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu not make the required five out of 22 by-election seats, or even otherwise, the temptation to poach, especially from the Congress or starting with the Congress may be high on Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisami's agenda, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Tamil Nadu assembly on Wednesday witnessed uproarious scenes when DMK members strongly protested remarks made by a ruling AIADMK member apparently ridiculing Leader of Opposition M K Stalin, culminating in their en masse eviction and suspension.
About 140 people out of 193 who were admitted to various government medical facilities after they consumed the spurious liquor on Tuesday night were currently stable, Kallakurichi district collector M S Prasanth said.
The chief government whip on Thursday sought their disqualification for alleged anti-party activities.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Monday said it would soon move a no-confidence motion against Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker P Dhanapal as it accused him of "deliberately harping on his community to malign" the party.
The Speaker, responding to pleas by DMK's KN Nehru, who was not among those suspended since he was not present in the House on August 17, made it clear that there was no reviewing of his decision to suspend the agitating DMK legislators for a week.
It should not surprise anyone if either of the contending parties in the 'TN speaker's case' comes up with a submission for referring the matter of 'speaker's powers' to a Constitution Bench. In political terms it could buy more time for the Edappadi camp, to settle down and stabilise itself, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The MLAs have been disqualified with effect from Monday, under the 1986 Tamil Nadu Assembly Members Party Defection Law.
A bench comprising Chief Justice S A Bobde and justices R Subhash Reddy and A S took note of the submission of the main opposition party of the state that speaker has not been taking any decision on the MLAs for last three years and issued notices to him, assembly secretary and 11 lawmakers including O Panneerselvam.
A full one year after Jayalalithaa was hospitalised on the night of September 22, 2016, followed by long hospitalisation and death on December 5, Tamil Nadu continues to be rocked by instability and non-governance of every which kind, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Police later let the legislators off after a brief detention at a marriage hall. Stalin demanded the dismissal of the AIADMK government over the issue of the alleged pay-offs.
K Pandiarajan has filed a petition in the apex court in which he has sought a direction for quashing Speaker P Dhanapal's decision rejecting the demand for a secret ballot to determine the outcome of the floor test.
The judiciary has often shied away from contesting the speaker's right or that of the legislature, but it has not always avoided taking a close look at the processes employed and arrive at conclusions that are binding on all concerned, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
If the Opposition is bent upon shouting its own agenda on a deaf ruling dispensation, then it becomes binding upon the chair to ensure that the parliamentary affairs aren't reduced to a farce.
Bharatiya Janata Party's southern ally Al India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Wednesday reiterated its stand against the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code.
The notices were served under the anti-defection law.
E Madusudanan, who was earlier removed as presidium chairman by Sasikala, said she had 'violated' her promise to the late Jayalalithaa that she will not enter politic.
The decision was taken after a discussion between the disqualified legislators and Dhinakaran in Madurai.
For now, Edappadi K Palaniswami is in the saddle in Tamil Nadu, and firmly so. Both inside the party and the government, he has made OPS a yes-man, as the latter used to be under Jayalalithaa, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Facing the opposition benches, it is the 11th portrait to adorn the House.
In the keenly-awaited judgment, Chief Justice Indira Banerjee upheld the September 18 order of Tamil Nadu assembly Speaker P Dhanapal disqualifying the MLAs, while Justice M Sundar disagreed with her and struck it down.
Terming Saturday as a "black day" for democracy, the senior DMK leader urged all those who wanted to "remove" the "anti- democratic" All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam government to join him.
An adverse judgement could have triggered a political realignment in Tamil Nadu and brought the ruling party perilously close to losing its majority in the state assembly whose effective strength is 232. Two seats are vacant.
Every vote now counts in the Tamil Nadu assembly, as the ruling party is walking on a wafer-thin majority. The Opposition DMK-led combine has 98 MLAs on their side, and with four others who had won on the AIADMK's 'Two Leaves' symbol in 2016 but do not belong to the party, per se, playing hide-and-seek with the party leadership, Dhinakaran with two or three other MLAs can give sleepless nights for the ruling party than their post-verdict celebrations may seemingly indicate, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Stalin disapproved of the act of some his party legislators sitting in the chair of Speaker P Dhanapal in the assembly.
E K Palaniswami had won the trust vote 122-11 in the 234-member assembly aided by the eviction of main opposition DMK and walkout by its allies, amid stormy scenes during which mikes were uprooted, chairs toppled and sheets of papers torn.
Opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Members of Legislative Assembly, including M K Stalin, the leader of its Legislature Wing, were on Monday suspended for two days from the Tamil Nadu Assembly for unruly behaviour in the House. Stalin and party MLAs Govi Chezhiyan, Thangam Thennarasu and Moideen Khan had to be physically removed by Marshals after they squatted in front of the Chair of Speaker P Dhanapal.
In an apparent bid to stem any further erosion in his party against the backdrop of four of his members of Legislative Assembly meeting Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, actor-politician and Opposition Leader Vijayakant on Monday sought a meeting with her to discuss constituency-related issues.
Former Chief Minister Panneerselvam could muster only 11 votes, ending the prolonged stalemate triggered by his rebellion.
The legislators moved out of the resort as it was already booked for the weekend, sources said.
The meeting of the newly-elected MLAs to elect the legislature party leader, the second within three days, reportedly saw exchanges on who should lead the party in the House with one section pitching for Palaniswami and the other for coordinator O Panneerselvam.
'We have done nothing wrong and I don't understand why they are sending a notice'
As the Opposition leader in the state assembly, M K Stalin has to fend off the ruling AIADMK on the one hand and prevent the re-emergence of a non-Dravidian Opposition on the other -- but his immediate challenge comes from within, in the form of his wheelchair-bound octogenarian party leader and father M Karunanidhi, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The salary and allowances of MLAs has been raised from Rs 55,000 to Rs 1.05 lakh a month.
The video recording of the House proceedings on February 18 must be from the commencement till the end, the court said.
Thousands of people hailing 'Puratchi Thalaivi Amma' (Revolutionary Leader Amma) walked with the cortege.
Confidence vote stalled after ruckus by opposition.
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