AIADMK MLAs disqualification: Chief Palaniswami, former legislators asked to appear before TN Speaker

Chennai: AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami and his party’s four former legislators have been summoned to appear before Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker J C D Prabhakar on July 30 for a hearing on the disqualification of the four under anti-defection laws, an official said on Monday.

The four – Maragatham Kumaravel (Maduranthakam Assembly constituency), P Sathyabama (Dharapuram), S Jayakumar (Perundurai), and Esakki Subaya (Ambasamudram) quit AIADMK and joined the ruling TVK, less than a month after winning the election.

According to an official, the summons were issued on July 24 by Assembly Secretary R Shanthi on behalf of the Assembly Secretariat, conveying the orders of the Speaker asking them to appear individually before the Speaker and explain their stand.

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Palaniswami, who is the AIADMK floor leader, had sought action against Maragatham Kumaravel, Sathyabama, Jayakumar and Esakki Subaya under the 10th Schedule of the Constitution for resigning as MLAs after winning the election on the party tickets and joining the ruling TVK.

Each of them has been allotted a specific time between 11 am and 12.30 pm to offer an explanation.
The four were among the 25 rebel AIADMK MLAs who voted in favour of Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay-led TVK government during the floor test on May 13, defying the party diktat.

Later, AIADMK general secretary Palaniswami accepted 21 MLAs to be part of the party after they reconciled and agreed to work under his leadership. However, he pursued action against the four.