AIADMK crisis: TN Governor meets Rajnath Singh amid political turmoil

Tamil Nadu Governor Vidyasagar Rao met Home Minister Rajnath Singh, a day after after 18 rebel AIADMK MLAs loyal to sidelined leader Dhinakaran were disqualified under the anti-defection law.

During the 20-minute meeting, the Governor is believed to have apprised the Home Minister about the current political developments in the southern state, officials said.

On Monday, the Tamil Nadu assembly speaker disqualified 18 MLAs supporting sidelined AIADMK leader TTV Dinakaran, just two days before a high court deadline for a floor test by chief minister Edapaddi Palanisamy.

Though Rao's meetings with Singh were described as "courtesy calls", they came a day ahead of his proposed visit to Chennai for three days from Tuesday.

As the Speaker's action appeared to tilt the number game in favour of the ruling side, a floor test appeared imminent in the state assembly in the last week of this month.

Rao, who is Governor of Maharashtra, holds the TN Governor's post as an additional charge. So far, he has not asked Chief Minister E K Palanisami to face a floor test. Both the opposition DMK and the Dhinakaran faction have challenged him to do so.

EPS, who recently joined hands with O Paneerselvam to unite the AIADMK to isolate Dhinakaran, is now expected to volunteer to seek a vote of confidence.

He now needs the support of just 108 MLAs, excluding that of the Speaker, to prove his majority with the disqualification of the 18 MLAs.

The decision by assembly speaker P Dhanpal brings down the magic number in the 234-member House to 110 as against 117 before the disqualification, in the case of a floor test.

The Palanisamy government claims support of 114 MLAs, who had attended a general council meeting that ousted jailed leader Sasikala and Dinakaran from party posts.

OneIndia News