The Madras High Court on Tuesday agreed to hear a plea by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Working President MK Stalin, seeking to have a floor test in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly. Apart from Stalin’s plea, the court will also take up a similar petition filed by Pattali Makkal Katchi leader K Balu on October 10.
The Opposition leader has been reiterating his demand to have Chief Minister Edapaddi Palaniswami prove his majority in the House since he parted ways with TTV Dinakaran, VK Sasikala’s nephew and ousted leader of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
Stalin approached the court the same day the AIADMK formally expelled Sasikala as the party’s interim general secretary and said the post will no longer exist. At a General Council meeting in Chennai, the AIADMK announced that former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa will remain the party’s “eternal general secretary”. Jayalalithaa died on December 5, 2016.
“No one can divide and rule the party cadre. Our unity was shown by the AIADMK General Council meeting,” Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam said on Twitter. “The party cadre and functionaries [have] to live up to the expectations of Puratchithalaivi Amma [Jayalalithaa]. Puratchithalaivar MGR [MG Ramachandran] and Puratchithalaivi Amma had ensured AIADMK rule in Tamil Nadu for 27 years.”
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