<p>Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker D Jayakumar resigned in an unexpected move on Saturday indicating a possible crack in the ruling party. <br /><br /></p>.<p>The four-time AIADMK legislator representing the Royapuram Assembly constituency and loyalist of party supremo J Jayalalitha was elevated to the Speaker post after the party came back to power in May last year.<br /><br />However, of late, supporters of Jayakumar had been projecting him in posters as an exceptional leader which apparently annoyed other senior leaders, notably Chennai mayor and veteran AIADMK leader Saidai S Doraiswamy, sources said.Significantly, the AIADMK leadership had suspended nearly a dozen of Jayakumar’s supporters recently in the backdrop of the high command’s directive that party posters should display only the pictures of the late Dravidian Movement leader Periyar, AIADMK’s party-founder MGR, his mentor C N Annadurai and that of present leader Jayalalitha.<br /><br />A brief official notification here by Assembly Secretary A M P Jamaludeen said that the Speaker had resigned. <br /><br />While the Speaker’s post is vacant, the duties of the office would be consequently performed by Deputy Speaker P Dhanapal, the notification said, indicating the resignation has been accepted.</p>
<p>Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker D Jayakumar resigned in an unexpected move on Saturday indicating a possible crack in the ruling party. <br /><br /></p>.<p>The four-time AIADMK legislator representing the Royapuram Assembly constituency and loyalist of party supremo J Jayalalitha was elevated to the Speaker post after the party came back to power in May last year.<br /><br />However, of late, supporters of Jayakumar had been projecting him in posters as an exceptional leader which apparently annoyed other senior leaders, notably Chennai mayor and veteran AIADMK leader Saidai S Doraiswamy, sources said.Significantly, the AIADMK leadership had suspended nearly a dozen of Jayakumar’s supporters recently in the backdrop of the high command’s directive that party posters should display only the pictures of the late Dravidian Movement leader Periyar, AIADMK’s party-founder MGR, his mentor C N Annadurai and that of present leader Jayalalitha.<br /><br />A brief official notification here by Assembly Secretary A M P Jamaludeen said that the Speaker had resigned. <br /><br />While the Speaker’s post is vacant, the duties of the office would be consequently performed by Deputy Speaker P Dhanapal, the notification said, indicating the resignation has been accepted.</p>
