CHENNAI: The ugly war of words that politics in Tamil Nadu has plunged into is set to get much more incisive and intelligent, with all factions of the ruling AIADMK, and the opposition DMK fielding top lawyers in the country to wage the legal battle before the Madras High Court from Wednesday.
Leading advocate and senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal is appearing for DMK, while former attorney general of India Mukul Rohatgi will present the arguments for Chief Minister ‘Edappadi’ K Palaniswami. Eight of the 18 rebel MLAs loyal to ousted deputy general secretary TTV Dhinakaran have approached Sibal’s party colleague Salman Khurshid, and noted advocate and Supreme Court Bar Association president Dushyant Dave, who are expected to land in Chennai today. The case will be heard by Justice M Doraisamy.
The presence of these legal eagles will elevate the quality of this important debate from the present level of name-calling, ridiculing and emotional outbursts over alleged betrayal, to the fundamental questions on the Constitution, its Tenth Schedule, and anti-defection law referring to past and precedents.
Sibal is arguing for the DMK in the petition against the notice issued to 21 of its MLAs by the privileges committee of the State Assembly, which is coming up for hearing on Wednesday. The Dhinakaran faction is challenging the disqualification of its 18 MLAs under anti-defection law.
Meanwhile, a day after the disqualification of the MLAs, Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao landed in Chennai on Tuesday afternoon. Rao, for whom Tamil Nadu is an additional charge, maintained that the ball was yet to come to his court. Now that the ball has reached the High Court, Rao may stay silent for the next few days.
Governor arrives after meeting with Rajnath Singh
After meeting Union minister Rajnath Singh for the second consecutive day, Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao landed in Chennai on Tuesday. When he visited the State last, Rao had accepted letters from the rebels declaring withdrawing support to ‘Edappadi’ Palaniswami as CM and petitions from opposition parties seeking a floor test