AIADMK rebel faction leader C Ve Shanmugam on Wednesday said his party MLAs extended support to Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay-led TVK government during the floor test in the Tamil Nadu Assembly as they shared similar ideological opposition to the DMK.
Shanmugam also rejected AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami's claim that the rebel faction leaders have been offered "ministerial berths" for supporting the TVK.
"His (Palaniswami) claim is totally false and there is no truth in it. We supported the government since both AIADMK and theTVK have the same ideology; to oppose DMK," Shanmugam said.
"The AIADMK party was founded by the late M G Ramachandran only to uproot the DMK," he added.
The cross-voting by 25 AIADMK MLAs who have rallied behind Shanmugam and another senior leader SP Velumani made the TVK government to significantly improve its tally to 144 in the 234-member House.
The DMK walked out while PMK abstained, and the lone BJP MLA stayed neutral.
Twenty-one other AIADMK MLAs owing allegiance to Palaniswami, besides himself, voted against the government.
On Palaniswami stating that the AIADMK had already elected legislator party leader, deputy leader and whip, he said, "Before electing them, the party should have convened a meeting and got the approval of all 47 MLAs."
"Can he (Palaniswami) show a copy of the resolution of the meeting. Can he provide information about when the legislature party meeting was held and at what time," he questioned.
Shanmugam claimed that Palaniswami came to Puducherry resort where AIADMK MLAs were staying last week when TVK was making efforts to form government and took the signatures of all the legislators separately.
"He said that he had already spoken with the high level and the DMK would extend outside support to our party, that he will be the chief minister. Our party will get several minister posts."
He further alleged, "Two senior DMK ministers contacted him over the phone and congratulated him for extending support and assured him of a ministerial berth. I was totally surprised and could not imagine accepting this offer. Even my family will not accept this."
Stating that the AIADMK lost four elections in a row, Shanmugam claimed that Palaniswami, as a party chief, never took responsibility for any poll debacle.
Echoing a similar view, MLA SP Velumani said, "Our motive is to defeat the DMK. Our party and TVK have the same principles. Therefore, we have supported it."
He also claimed that the AIADMK MLAs were still intact.
"There is no split in the party. We have to convene the party's general council meeting immediately to decide the future success of the AIADMK," he added.
(With inputs from PTI)
