Having burnt their fingers during the February 18 trust vote in the State Assembly, the DMK, which has a strength of 89, is looking to take a cautious approach this time around. The belligerence of T T V Dhinakaran, who on Tuesday paraded his MLAs before Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao and withdrew support to Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, has kindled hopes in the DMK camp to capitalise on the volatile situation.
DMK working president M K Stalin had already said his party would move a no-confidence motion if necessary. Back channels are already at work, according to informed sources. And Dhinakaran seems to have sent feelers to Chittaranjan Salai seeking support. But, as of now the DMK leadership is not displaying the kind of energy it did when it tried to unseat the Palaniswami government on February 18.
“It was a bitter experience for our party as our attempts turned futile. So, our leadership is closely watching the developments and will not act in haste,” a DMK functionary told Express. Remember on February 18, the Opposition had tried all sorts of tricks to provoke the Treasury Benches.
They broke the microphone on the Speaker’s table, heckled and tried him to prevent him from leaving the House after adjourning, overturned the table of the Assembly Secretary, hurled dustbins, climbed onto the desk of the chief minister and his colleagues but the ruling bloc observed utmost patience and did not move from their seats till the voting was over. Having a combined strength of 98 with its allies, the DMK now appears better placed with 19 AIADMK MLAs staging a revolt. - R Sivakumar