CHENNAI: Getting ready to witness a trust vote after factional feud within the party in power, Tamil Nadu is reminded of a similar episode nearly three decades ago when a split led to the collapse of the then AIADMK government after a vote of confidence.
Chief Minister M G Ramachandran’s death on December 24, 1987, triggered a series of developments within the AIADMK, culminating in a split into factions headed by MGR’s wife Janaki Ramachandran and his protégé J Jayalalithaa.
The party had 131 MLAs – it is 135 now – after the leader’s death, of whom 33 supported Jaya. Among those who were the loyalists of Janaki was the then Assembly Speaker P H Pandian, who incidentally is among those who have now risen against the faction headed by AIADMK general secretary V K Sasikala.
Its ally Congress, the principal opposition party by virtue of being the second biggest contingent inside the House with 61 MLAs, decided to stay neutral after the high command said it favoured a united AIADMK. There were five Congress members, including E V K S Elangovan, who supported actor Sivaji Ganesan.
The DMK, the arch rivals who had only 24 seats, were further reduced in numbers after 16 of them, including veteran K Anbazhagan, were expelled by the Speaker for burning copies of the Constitution during the anti-Hindi imposition agitation. The party had only eight MLAs then.
Janaki had assumed the office of chief minister on January 7, 1988, and on January 28, she sought a confidence vote. On that eventful day, as soon as the proceedings began, Speaker Pandian announced that five of the Congress MLAs, including E V K S Elangovan, had tendered resignations.
The then HR and CE minister R M Veerappan moved the confidence motion on behalf of the chief minister and spoke on it. In between the session, outsiders in white uniforms entered the House and attacked members, leaving many injured.
The unruly incidents forced the House proceedings to be adjourned for some time. AIADMK Whip Durai Govindarajan moved a resolution to disqualify the 33 members belonging to Jayalalithaa faction, which the Speaker announced immediately. Later, with just 111 members present in the House, the Speaker held the trust vote and declared Janaki the winner.
The victory was short-lived as the then Governor S L Khurana refused to accept it. He sent a report explaining what had happened, following which Janaki’s government was dissolved on January 30, 1988.