EPS sacks AIADMK rebel leaders from posts for backing TVK in Tamil Nadu Assembly floor test

Chennai: Cracking the whip, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) on Wednesday sacked rebel MLAs, including former ministers S P Velumani, C Ve Shanmugam and C Vijayabaskar, from their party posts, hours after 25 legislators voted in the favour of the TVK government despite party “whip” asking them to vote against. 

Palaniswami, in a tactic move, removed several senior leaders, including former minister and his close aide P Thangamani, who could not perform well in the recently-concluded assembly elections. 

Through this action, he made the removals look like a result of the election debacle than one against the rebels. The former chief minister also quickly appointed replacements for the posts, sending a strong message against rebels. 

The action came even as everyone expected Palaniswami to move Speaker J C D Prabhakar seeking disqualification of the 25 MLAs who voted in favour of the Vijay government.

Reacting sharply to Palaniswami’s action, Shanmugam mocked their removal, saying the only work that EPS has done as party chief was to sack people from their positions. “He had paused his work due to elections and he has resumed. He has sacked 26 people from their posts. Have you heard of any other leader who is on a sacking-spree?” he asked and claimed that Palaniswami doesn’t have the authority to remove them. 

At a press conference hours before he acted against them, Palaniswami was non-committal on the action against the “rebel” MLAs. But he alleged that they voted for TVK only on the basis of an offer from the ruling party that six of them would be accommodated in the ministry and about 16 MLAs will be made heads of government-run enterprises. 

The former chief minister asserted that all the newly elected legislators had chosen him as the leader of the legislature and party, and that only the whip appointed by him holds legitimate authority.

The rival camp, however, countered that Palaniswami does not have the authority to appoint office-bearers of the legislature party, arguing that such decisions rest solely with the elected legislators. While former ministers C V Shanmugam and S P Velumani claimed they represented the “original AIADMK,” they did not clarify whether they would approach the Speaker seeking the disqualification of the 22 MLAs who aligned with Palaniswami.

They also struck a conciliatory note by admitting that Palaniswami was still the party chief. Velumani said Sasikala and T T V Dhinakaran should be brought into the party and asked Palaniswami not to keep expelling leaders as per his wish. 

It seemed that both factions were preparing for a prolonged political struggle by not approaching the Speaker, whose ruling would likely push the aggrieved side to seek judicial intervention, potentially resulting in a drawn-out legal battle. Experts noted that the rebel MLAs could face disqualification, as the Supreme Court in the Shiv Sena case had held that the political party, rather than the legislature party, is what ultimately matters.

Palaniswami said the Speaker went against the rules by allowing Velumani to speak in the House and accused the VK government of trying to lure away AIADMK legislators. He also alleged that the TVK has offered six ministerial berths and chairmen of 16 government organisations in return for their support. 

“They want power. Their desire to become ministers has led them to act against the party leadership’s directives. Something unprecedented in the history of Tamil Nadu is happening now,” Palaniswami alleged. 

However, Shanmugam accused Palaniswami of not agreeing to the proposal of making Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) chief Thol Thirumavalavan as the Chief Minister. “He (Palaniswami) was adamant that only he will be the Chief Minister,” Shanmugam added. He also alleged that the letter submitted to the Speaker by Palaniswami was forged and no such meeting of the legislature party took place.