Edappadi K Palaniswami wins trust vote in empty House after bedlam

Chennai: A view of Tamilnadu Assembly during the Vote of confidence motion in Chennai on Saturday.PTI Photo (PTI2_18_2017_000192A)

All MLAs assembled at 11 am in the hall. There were two adjournments after the Speaker rejected calls for secret ballot by MLAs of the Panneerselvam camp and the Opposition with DMK leader M K Stalin leading the chorus. Stalin and Panneerselvam said all MLAs, who were brought in vehicles of ministers from the beach resort to the Assembly building in the morning, should be allowed to go to their constituencies and return later to vote. They pointed out that the Governor had given 15 days for the trust vote.

But Speaker Dhanapal rejected their demand and allowed Palaniswami to move the vote of confidence motion, about 50 minutes after the session began. In the meantime, the audio link from the Assembly hall to the media room — no camera or mobile phone is allowed inside — was also disconnected.

The Speaker, who said he had discretionary powers to take the final call, went ahead with his decision for a division of votes. At this point, DMK MLAs jumped on the dais of the Assembly officers, evading the watch-and-ward staff.

This triggered clashes and Opposition MLAs began hurling chairs. They damaged the microphone placed before the Speaker and the chairs and table of the Assembly staff. The Speaker adjourned the House until 1 pm, a decision which was later changed to 3 pm since DMK MLAs, who were told to leave the House, remained inside.

Chennai: A view of Tamilnadu Assembly during the Vote of confidence motion in Chennai on Saturday.PTI Photo
(PTI2_18_2017_000187B)

DMK MLAs were seen pushing the Speaker and at least two of them took turns to sit on the Speaker’s chair — the visuals found their way to AIADMK channel Jaya TV. An Assembly staff member said, “We had information that the DMK was planning a showdown outside the Assembly once the session would start at 3 pm. The Rapid Action Force was brought in because Speaker Dhanapal too had been manhandled.”

After 1 pm, police entered the Assembly building. DMK MLAs, including Stalin, M Subramanian and other senior leaders, were among those evicted. Stalin emerged with a torn, unbuttoned shirt and headed to the Raj Bhavan to lodge a complaint. When the House re-assembled, it passed the confidence motion after division of votes, saving the day for Palaniswami.

An hour later, the entire state cabinet and AIADMK leaders reached the Jayalalithaa memorial on Marina Beach. Stalin too turned up a kilometre away, sitting in protest before the Gandhi statue. This brought hundreds to the beach and police had to be called in.

Speaking to reporters, Palaniswami said “Chinnamma’s (Sasikala) vow has come true. It also fulfils the dreams of Amma (Jayalalithaa) and MGR (AIADMK founder M G Ramachandran),” he said. Party deputy general secretary T T V Dinakaran and senior cabinet ministers were with Palaniswami when he showed up on Marina Beach.

Panneerselvam, on the other hand, said he had “lost the battle, but not the war against the family (of Sasikala) that has captured the party and the government”. AIADMK spokesperson C R Saraswathi said allegations of huge payments made to MLAs for the trust vote were “big lies spread by the DMK”.

“Their action today proves they have many agendas. When they said they will vote against Palaniswami, why did they join the Panneerselvam camp to attack the government? They went on a rampage, those visuals are now before the public,” Saraswathi said.