Tamil Nadu’s ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) will not actively pursue defections from the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), state Health Minister K G Arunraj said on Wednesday. He added that the party would consider the issue if AIADMK legislators chose to leave their party because of differences with its leadership.
Speaking to reporters at Kilpauk Medical College in Chennai, Arunraj said TVK had set no target or campaign to attract opposition MLAs. He said the party would examine the situation if legislators rejected their own leadership and approached TVK.
The minister’s comments came amid a legal dispute involving AIADMK legislators who resigned from the Assembly and joined the TVK, which is led by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay, earlier this year.
High Court upholds Speaker’s decision
The remarks followed the Madras High Court’s decision a day earlier to uphold Assembly Speaker J C D Prabhakar’s acceptance of the resignations submitted by the AIADMK legislators after the Assembly elections.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice S A Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan held that the Speaker was required to establish only whether the resignations were voluntary and genuine. The petitions challenging the decision were filed by AIADMK whip Agri Krishnamurthy and Ravi of the National People’s Power Party.
The petitioners contended that the resignations were submitted and accepted on May 25, the day the legislators joined TVK, without sufficient scrutiny. They also argued that AIADMK should have been allowed to oppose the resignations under Article 190 of the Constitution.
While upholding the Speaker’s action, the court made it clear that disqualification proceedings relating to the legislators’ earlier conduct could continue.
Disqualification proceedings remain pending
The court noted that acceptance of an MLA’s resignation does not by itself bring proceedings under the anti-defection law to an end. Article 190 requires the Speaker to verify that a resignation is voluntary and genuine, while the Tenth Schedule permits disqualification for voluntarily giving up party membership or voting against a party whip without permission, subject to applicable exceptions.
The Speaker has been directed to complete the pending proceedings within two months.
Events leading to the dispute
The Tamil Nadu Assembly election results were declared on May 4. TVK won 108 seats, falling short of the 118 required for a majority. The party subsequently obtained support from other legislators and formed the government under Chief Minister Vijay.
During the confidence vote on May 13, the government secured 144 votes. Although an AIADMK whip instructed its legislators to oppose the motion, 25 MLAs voted in favour of the government. Disqualification proceedings were initiated the following day.
Some of the legislators later apologised, after which proceedings against them were withdrawn. The legislators involved in the dispute resigned on May 25, and the Speaker accepted their resignations before they joined TVK. The sequence of events led to questions over the validity of the resignations and possible breaches of the anti-defection law.
Defectors retain seats in bypolls
AIADMK defectors Maragatham Kumaravel and P Sathyabhama later contested by-elections from Maduranthakam and Dharapuram respectively on the TVK ticket and retained their seats.
Vijay termed the bypoll results a victory for democratic values and said TVK had won without paying voters.
Follow us
