Chennai: DMK President M.K. Stalin on Tuesday sent a letter to the Secretary of Tamil Nadu Assembly proposing a no-confidence motion against Speaker P. Dhanapal. The move by the main opposition party in the state comes hours after the Speaker sought an explanation from three ruling party MLAs over their alleged 'anti-party' activities.
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In his letter, Stalin, citing the show cause notices to the three AIADMK legislators, said that when the results of the by-elections for 22 Assembly constituencies is expected on May 23, the Speaker's decision which would change the majority position of the parties will hurt the honour of the House.
Dhanapal on Tuesday sent show cause notices to three AIADMK legislators -- A. Prabhu representing the Kallakuruchi constituency, Rathinasabapathy (Aranthangi) and V.T. Kalaiselvan (Virudhachalam) -- seeking explanations for their anti-party activities. AIADMK's Chief Whip S. Rajendran had submitted a petition to Dhanapal to take action against the three legislators for their anti-party activities. Rajendran said the party had got more proof of their prejudicial activities and hence he submitted the petition to the Speaker.
This is not the first time the DMK has moved a motion of no-confidence against the Speaker. In March 2017, the DMK's motion against Speaker Dhanapal was defeated with 122 MLAs voting against it. The political developments come even as the state is set to witness bye-polls to the four pending Assembly constituencies - Suluru, Aravakurichi, Thirparankundram and Ottapidaram (SC)- which will be held on May 19. The state has also voted to elect 38 MPs in the Lok Sabha polls and in the 18 bye-poll seats on April 18.
