CHENNAI: The 18 disqualified AIADMK MLAs, who have been supporting AMMK leader TTV Dhinakaran, have decided not to move the Supreme Court against the Madras High Court verdict but face the by-election.
The MLAs were oscillating for a week whether to challenge the Madras High Court verdict upholding their disqualification or to face the by-election.
Announcing the decision not to challenge the Madras HC verdict before SC, Dhinakaran at Madurai told reporters that the ruling AIADMK candidates in these by-elections would not even get their deposits.
Chief Election Commission OP Rawat had said that if the disqualified MLAs fail to challenge the Madras HC verdict within 30 days of the verdict, the commission will start making arrangements for holding by-elections to the 18 constituencies. Since Tirupparankundram and Tiruvarur are lying vacant due to demise of the MLAs, by-election to these constituencies may also be clubbed with 18 constituencies.
Now, the ball is in the court of Election Commission which has to take a decision as to whether to hold these by-elections along with the Lok Sabha elections which are to be held in April-May or to hold them
ahead of the LS polls.
Sensing the mood among the disqualified MLAs, the ruling AIADMK has already announced 122 election in-charges for these 20 constituencies which include the entire Cabinet and 90 senior functionaries of the
party. Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami and other leaders expressed confidence that they would win all the 20 constituencies.
The bypolls in the 20 constituencies would perhaps change the political scenario in Tamil Nadu. The ruling AIADMK has 116 members in the assembly, including the Speaker. But four of them have publicly
announced that they are opposing the ruling regime and two more has not made their stance clear. So considering that only 109 MLAs are supporting the government, the party has to win at least 9 of the 20
seats to have a comfortable majority in the house.
The DMK, with 97 members at present, have to win all 20 seats to reach the halfway mark of 117, but still lack of one seat for a simple majority in the house.
Meanwhile, the AIADMK has also initiated action against three of its MLAs who are supporting Dhinakaran and its expected they may be disqualified by the Speaker, if they continue to refuse toe the party line.
The names of 18 disqualified MLAs are Thanga Tamilselvan (Andipatti), R. Murugan (Harur), Cho. Mariappan Kennedy (Manamadurai), Dr. K. Kathikamu (Periyakulam), C. Jayanthi Padmanabhan (Gudiyattam), P. Palaniappan (Pappireddipatti), V. Senthil Balaji (Aravakurichi), Dr. S. Muthiah (Paramakudi), P. Vetrivel (Perambur), N.G. Parthiban (Sholingur), M. Kothandapani (Thiruporur), T.A. Elumalai (Poonamallee), M. Rengasamy (Thanjavur), R. Thangadurai (Nilakottai), R. Balasubramani (Ambur), 'Ethirkottai' S.G. Subramanian (Sattur), R. Sundararaj (Ottapidaram) and K. Uma Maheswari (Vilathikulam)