AIADMK moves resolution against Tamil Nadu Speaker M Appavu; motion defeated

Chennai: A resolution moved by AIADMK, Tamil Nadu’s principal Opposition party, seeking the removal of Assembly Speaker M Appavu by accusing him of being “one-sided” and “biased” towards the ruling party was on Monday defeated on the floor of the House.

While 154 members opposed the motion, only 63 members voted in its favour.

After the resolution moved by deputy floor of AIADMK, R B Udhayakumar, was taken up for consideration, Appavu left the House and asked his deputy K Pichandi to conduct the proceedings.

The resolution was supported by AIADMK members, including rebel O Panneerselvam, and K A Sengottaiyan, who has been avoiding the party leadership for the past few weeks. While the deputy speaker put the motion to voice vote, the AIADMK members demanded a division of votes, which was finally accepted.

MLAs from the BJP and PMK were absent from the House when the motion was taken up. During the discussion, Palaniswami accused Appavu of being “one-sided” and biased towards the ruling party, alleging that the live telecast of the assembly proceedings deliberately blackout opposition benches.

He also said the Speaker took almost two years to decide on the AIADMK’s request to recognise Udhayakumar as the deputy leader of the party.

Chief Minister M K Stalin said it was laughable that those who lost the confidence of people are moving a resolution to remove the Speaker.

Meanwhile, Palaniswami told reporters outside the Assembly that the AIADMK was united and there was no split within the party, responding to questions about Sengottaiyan being upset about the way seniors are being treated.

“We are all united. There have been efforts ever since I became the Chief Minister in 2017 to split the party. But we won’t allow any such split to take place. Only people who dream of engineering a split in AIADMK will be embarrassed,” he added.