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Trouble for Vijay? Tamil Nadu CM gets warning by ally CPI-M over AIADMK: ‘Will withdraw support…’
CPI(M) state secretary P Shanmugam on Tuesday warned that the party would reconsider its support to the new Tamil Nadu government led by CM Vijay.
Tamil Nadu's newly sworn in chief minister C Joseph Vijay on Wednesday received a warning from one of his coalition government partners — the CPI(M) — against accommodating rival AIADMK in the state Cabinet which was formed following days of struggle to garner the required support after the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) won 108 seats in the Tamil Nadu assembly elections, 10 short of the majority mark.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) state secretary P Shanmugam on Wednesday warned that the party would reconsider its support to the new Tamil Nadu government led by actor-politician C Joseph Vijay if the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) is accommodated in the Cabinet.
"We strongly believe that the chief minister will not take such a decision. If he decides to include the AIADMK in the Cabinet, we will reconsider our support," said Shanmugam, indicating unease within sections of the coalition government.
What's happening around AIADMK
The remarks come after a faction of the 47-seat winner AIADMK — comprising 25 MLAs led by S P Velumani and C Ve Shanmugam — supported Vijay's TVK ahead of the trust vote on May 11. The remaining 22 MLAs of the under party chief Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) opposed the floor test.
TVK emerged victorious in the assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, falling 10 seats short of the majority needed to form the government. With the backing from the Congress, Left parties, Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), it formed the government.
CM C Joseph Vijay won a trust vote in the state assembly on Wednesday with support from 144 MLAs, including legislators from his party TVK. Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), VCK, Communist Party of India (CPI), CPI(M), and Congress, taking the TVK tally to 117, the mark needed to prove majority.
The internal rift within the AIADMK improved Vijay's tally in the assembly.
Left parties in Tamil Nadu have often opposed the AIADMK over ideological differences, particularly its perceived proximity to the BJP and support for certain NDA policies at the Centre.
Meanwhile, rival factions of the AIADMK last eek submitted petitions to Tamil Nadu assembly speaker JCD Prabhakar seeking disqualification of each other’s MLAs after the party split over extending support to the ruling TVK.
A delegation led by senior AIADMK leader K P Munusamy, who belongs to the faction headed by party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, on Thursday met the speaker and later visited Lok Bhavan, the Governor’s official residence, seeking disqualification of 25 MLAs aligned with leaders C Ve Shanmugham and S P Velumani.
The rival faction also met the Speaker and sought disqualification of 22 MLAs backing the Palaniswami camp, an earlier HT report quoted a senior party leader as saying.
