Speaker rejects AIADMK's plea to disqualify MLA Shanmugam

Chennai, Oct 19 (UNI) Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker R Avudaiappan has rejected a plea by AIADMK MLAs to disqualify party's controversial Madurai East MLA S V Shanmugam from the party for having ''voluntarily given up the membership of the party.'' After Mr Shanmugam attended a meeting presided over by Local Administration Minister and DMK leader M K Stalin, 59 AIADMK MLAs, led by party whip K A Sengottaiyan, petitioned to the Speaker to disqualify him from the Assembly.

Turning down the plea, the Speaker said there was no ground to disqualify Mr Shanmugam from the Assembly as he had not received any resignation letter or any letter from the Legislator stating that he had quit the party .

The Speaker also said Mr Sengottaiyan and other AIADMK members, who had demanded the disqualification, failed to specify as how Mr Shanmugam had disobeyed the whip of the party.

The letter by the AIADMK members, seeking the disqualification was also not in the prescribed format, the Speaker said adding ''there is no need to proceed further on the request.'' The AIADMK MLAs had submitted that Mr Shanmugam had attracted disqualification ''by his continuous activities outside the House wherein by his speech and conduct he had voluntarily given up his membership of the political party, which had set him as a candidate, namely the AIADMK.'' In their petition, the MLAs, citing press clippings, said Mr Shanmugam had been saying ''I will function as an independent candidate in the Legislative Assembly. I will fully support all the actions of the DMK government... '' They said contrary to the directions of the AIADMK, Mr Shanmugam attended a public meeting held in his constituency presided over by M K Stalin.

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