Sidelined AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran and MLAs loyal to him are slated to meet Tamil Nadu Governor Ch.Vidyasagar Rao on Thursday to press their demand for the removal of Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswamy even as he asserted that his government enjoyed the support of the majority of party MLAs.
Dhinakaran faction leader Thanga Tamilselvan told reporters that their group would meet the Governor, who has already been told that there should be a leadership change in the government. The Dhinakaran group is said to enjoy the support of over 20 MLAs. Nineteen of them had met the Governor last month and conveyed to him that the chief minister had lost their confidence.
Meanwhile, CM Palaniswamy told reporters that his government enjoyed the support of the majority of AIADMK MLAs.
"The majority of them attended a meeting of the party yesterday. Some MLAs could not come for the meeting because of some personal reasons. We enjoy majority support," he said.
Finance Minister D Jayakumar said the AIADMK was not afraid of elections but added that the MLAs and people did not want polls. The only one interested in elections was DMK leader MK Stalin but his dream would not be realised as his own party MLAs were not keen, he said.
On the other side, Leader of the Opposition and DMK Working President MK Stalin said according to media reports only 109 AIADMK MLAs had attended a meeting called by the chief minister which proved that he had lost his majority.
He said the government should also be stopped from taking policy decisions till it proves its majority on the floor of the Assembly.
The half way mark in the Tamil Nadu Assembly with an effective strength of 234 is 117.