Here’s a breakdown of the final numbers in the Tamil Nadu Assembly during the trust vote on Saturday:
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Disgruntled with the result of the trust vote on Saturday, DMK Executive President, MK Stalin said he along with other DMK legislators sat underneath Gandhi’s statu at Marina Beach as a mark of protest.
All DMK legislators had been evicted from the assembly, and by extension, from casting their vote when they began to disrupt parliament, asking for a secret ballot.
Clarifying that their protest was not violent, he said:
In his first public speech as the Chief Minister, Palanisamy on Monday reinforced the welfare agenda set by late Tamil Nadu CM and AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa. Palanisamy ordered the shutdown of 500 state run liquor stores, hiked maternity benefits from Rs 12000 to Rs 18000, and promised houses for fishermen.
“We are facing a drought situation in Tamil Nadu. The government will work swiftly to ensure compensation reaches farmers at the earliest. The government will ensure drinking needs of people are met,” Palanisamy said.
The DMK on Monday filed a petition against Saturday’s proceedings in the Madras high court.
Immediately after the court assembled on Monday morning, senior advocate and former DMK Rajya Sabha member R Shanmugasundaram mentioned the matter before the first bench. The petition is likely to be heard on Tuesday.
AIADMK MLA from the Coimbatore South constituency, Amman K Arjunan, has alleged that he has been receiving threatening and abusive phone calls in the wake of Saturday’s trust vote.
Arjunan has alleged that he was being abused for choosing to support CM Palanisamy.
Speaking to the reporters in Coimbatore, he said, “I have got more than 100 calls and the person who calls starts abusing me as soon as I pick up the call. I do not know who these people are, but I have a doubt that they are from DMK. I’m sure these are not people from my constituency,” he said.
Following the protest inside and outside the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Saturday, the DMK has now announced a hunger strike on 22 February.
All the district offices in the state will protest against the Assembly proceedings that allowed Chief Minister Edappadi Palanisamy to win the confidence vote.
This announcement came after DMK MLAs held a meeting at the party headquarters on Sunday.
On Sunday, Tamil Nadu Governor Vidyasagar Rao sought a factual report from Assembly Secretary Jamaludeen on the incidents that took place during Saturday’s trust vote.
Also Read: DMK Slams Speaker’s ‘High-Handedness’, Latter Talks Caste Politics
DMK Working President MK Stalin on Sunday urged the Tamil Nadu Governor to nullify the proceedings in the Assembly on Saturday in which Chief Minister Edapaddi K Palanisamy won the confidence vote.
In his representation to Governor C Vidayasagar Rao, DMK working president MK Stalin said the motion of confidence moved by CM Palaniswami was adopted in the absence of the entire opposition on Saturday.
Stalin requested Rao to invoke his Constitutional powers “to nullify the entire proceedings with a view to protect the spirit of democracy and the Constitution”.
Stalin said extraordinary police presence was mobilised, giving an impression of a "war-like situation" around the Assembly complex where a "thick atmosphere of terror" had prevailed.
According to Stalin, the AIADMK legislators belonging to the VK Sasikala camp, who were allegedly held hostage at a beach resort, were brought to the Assembly "under tight security and they appeared to be under constant threat".
Stalin said P Dhanapal, Speaker of the house, did not respond to his request for a secret ballot on the confidence motion.
(With inputs from The News Minute, IANS and PTI)