All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) chief Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) on Wednesday removed 25 leaders from their posts within the party.
Among those removed were AIADMK leaders SP Velumani and C V Shanmugam. This came after the AIADMK's rebel MLAs, including Natham R Viswanathan, defied the party's diktat and backed actor-turned-politician C Joseph Vijay's bid to prove majority the House.
The rebel AIADMK MLAs voted in favour of the TVK government during the confidence motion in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly earlier in the day. After he cracked the whip on these leaders, Palaniswami replaced them and appointed new district secretaries in their places, PTI news agency reported.
What happened during the floor test in Tamil Nadu Assembly?
The TVK, which emerged as the single largest party in the recently concluded Tamil Nadu elections, won the trust vote in the state assembly with the support of 25 rebel AIADMK MLAs. The DMK MLAs staged a walkout during the proceedings.
This came as a relief for the TVK and its founder Vijay, given that the party had been struggling to reach the majority mark of 118 despite an alliance with the Congress.
On Wednesday, the TVK won the trust vote by a 144:22 margin, with the 22 naysayers being the AIADMK MLAs. In this, 25 other AIADMK MLAs from the C Ve Shanmugam-SP Velumani camp, voted in favour of the government, something which they had announced earlier, PTI reported.
{{/usCountry}}On Wednesday, the TVK won the trust vote by a 144:22 margin, with the 22 naysayers being the AIADMK MLAs. In this, 25 other AIADMK MLAs from the C Ve Shanmugam-SP Velumani camp, voted in favour of the government, something which they had announced earlier, PTI reported.
{{/usCountry}}Following this, allegations of horse trading were levelled, which were rejected by TVK chief Vijay.