TN trust vote: With a wafer-thin majority, will EPS cross the 117 mark?

As the Tamil Nadu political crisis reaches its climax, ultimately it all boils down to numbers during the floor test in the assembly on Saturday.

Chennai, Feb 18: With a wafer-thin majority and the constant threat of unhappy MLAs crossing over, Edappadi K Palanisamy will take the trust vote in the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly on Saturday. The magic number is 117 as the strength of the House has come down from 234 to 233.

Jayalalithaa's seat has fallen vacant after her death. Further speaker, Dhanpal will not vote as per convention. He will vote only in case of a tie. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam supremo Karunanidhi too will not be voting into the trust vote as he is unwell. Hence it would considered as abstained from voting.

The O Panneerselvam camp is confident that it would upset the apple cart. They are basing their confidence on an internal report which suggests several from the Sasikala Natarajan camp would switch sides during the vote in the assembly.

Palanisamy has submitted a list of 124 MLAs. However, the number has dropped to 122 as Arun Kumar an MLA had walked out of the Golden Bay resort. He said he would follow the will of the people and abstain from voting. This would mean that OPS need just 7 legislators to cross over.

If this happens then EPS would lose the trust vote. Moreover, the DMK and the Congress have already indicated that they would be voting against the government. The opposition in the TN legislative assembly has 98 MLAs combined. Saturday is expected to witness some interesting scenes in the legislative assembly. In this final round of a political slugfest the fact is nothing can be said until the very last moment.

OneIndia News