Chennai: Former AIADMK MLAs Maragatham Kumaravel, S Jayakumar and P Sathyabama on Thursday appeared before Speaker J C D Prabhakar and submitted written explanations for their resignation from the legislative assembly post.This is the second time they were asked to explain the circumstances leading to their exit from the party and the legislature. The three MLAs resigned on May 24 and joined VK soon after. They were among the first batch of AIADMK legislators to quit the party and shift to the ruling side, a move that drew sharp criticism from the opposition.After the enquiry, Perundurai MLA Jayakumar told TOI that the Speaker sought details on the sequence of events, including the reasons for voting in favour of chief minister C Joseph Vijay-led TVK govt during the confidence motion on May 13 and the circumstances that led to their resignations.“We explained that there was no clear communication from the party and there was confusion over who the AIADMK whip was. A majority of the MLAs, 25 in all, decided to support TVK govt,” he said.Jayakumar said the trio also informed the Speaker that they had resigned voluntarily and were unwilling to continue in AIADMK.Former Ambasamuduram MLA Esakki Subaya, who explained to the Speaker his resignation, is also expected to be summoned again.The explanations submitted by the MLAs during the enquiry will be placed before Madras high court, which issued notice to the Speaker on AIADMK’s petition challenging the acceptance of their resignations while anti-defection proceedings were pending against them, said assembly sources.
