MK Stalin meets Pranab Mukherjee, requests to annul TN trust vote

MK Stalin is likely to meet Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Friday, Feb 24.

New Delhi, Feb 23: Leader of Opposition in Tamil Nadu Assembly M K Stalin on Thursday requested President Pranab Mukherjee to annul the Vote of Confidence and direct the Governor to order for a fresh floor test through secret ballot.

Speaking to reporters after meeting the President at Rashtrapati Bhavan here, the DMK Working President Stalin said unprecedented violence took place in the TN Assembly on Saturday, the day trust vote was held. "After throwing all 89 DMK MLAs out, a Confidence Vote was held. We have apprised the President about it and the way in which Assembly Speaker conducted the proceedings in favour of the ruling party," said Stalin.

He added,"We have asked the President to nullify the Confidence Vote and direct the Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao to hold a fresh floor test through secret ballot. Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand have set an example in holding secret ballots."

Commenting on unruly behaviour of his MLAs in the Assembly, Stalin said DMK "has never" encouraged violence. "It is the DMK MLAs who have been attacked in the incident," he said.

Stalin's meeting with the President comes days after he had urged Tamil Nadu Governor Rao to "nullify" the confidence vote, which was won by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami after forcible en-masse eviction of DMK legislators from the state Assembly on February 18. Palaniswami had won the trust vote by a huge margin of 122-11, on Saturday.

PTI