PUDUCHERRY: Speaker of Territorial Assembly VP Sivakozhunthu has issued a show-cause notice to dissident Congress MLA N Dhanavelu seeking a reply as to why he should not be disqualified under the Anti-Defection Law.
This is in response to a petition submitted by Government Whip RKR Anantharaman to the Speaker on January 30 seeking Dhanavelu’s disqualification for “conspiring to topple” the Congress government led by V Narayanasamy by “joining hands with Opposition parties.”
Dhanavelu has been staging protests against the government and even raised corruption charges against the Chief Minister and other ministers. He had also submitted a memorandum to the Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi alleging corruption in the government urging her to put an end to the regime, Anantharaman had said in his memorandum.
The show-cause notice was sent to Dhanavelu by post on Friday. He has to submit a reply within seven days from the receipt of the notice.
With the Assembly convened on February 12, Dhanavelu will take part in the proceedings as Congress MLA since a decision is unlikely to be taken before the start of the session.