The TVK's decision to offer the lone Rajya Sabha seat to the Congress came against the backdrop of key meetings between national party leaders, including former union finance minister P Chidambaram and Congress Tamil Nadu in-charge Girish Chodankar at the Secretariat.
Three All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam legislators who were part of the rebel group led by C Ve Shanmugam and SP Velumani, met Tamil Nadu assembly Speaker JC D Prabhakar on Monday and tendered their resignation.
A fourth AIADMK MLA, Esakki Subaya, has resigned from the Tamil Nadu Assembly and is seen with TVK leaders, following three other rebel MLAs who also quit and joined the ruling TVK. This move has sparked strong accusations of 'horse-trading' from the AIADMK and Congress, while the Speaker insists he is acting within legal frameworks.
The Congress party has announced its seven candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Pawan Khera, Meenakshi Natarajan, Praveen Chakravarty, Neeraj Dangi, Mansoor Ali Khan, and Pranav Jha, representing various states like Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, and Jharkhand. The elections are set for June 18.
Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay-led TVK government successfully won the trust vote in the Tamil Nadu assembly, securing 144 votes in favour, with support from the Congress, VCK, and an AIADMK rebel faction.
Tamil Nadu's AIADMK, leading the NDA in the state, has released its first list of 23 candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections, renominating key leaders and fielding experienced legislators from their traditional strongholds.
The AIADMK propaganda secretary also claimed "Panneerselvam is instable." State minister C Ve Shanmugam called Panneerselvam "a betrayer".
Panneerselvam also wanted withdrawal of affidavits submitted to the Election Commission declaring Sasikala and Dinakaran as party general secretary and deputy general secretary, respectively.
