Days ahead of the AIADMK General Council meeting called by the ruling faction led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami, sidelined Deputy General Secretary TTV Dhinakaran’s camp has moved the Madras High Court seeking a stay on the September 12 meet.
The General Council meeting has been called with the intention of expelling General Secretary VK Sasikala from the party.
AIADMK MLA and Dhinakaran loyalist Vetrivel filed a petition in the Madras High Court stating that a General Council can only be convened by the General Secretary of the party. In his petition, he called the meeting convened by CM EPS and Deputy CM O Panneerselvam as illegal and sought a stay on the General Council meeting.
A special mention was made by senior counsel TV Ramanujam, who appeared on behalf of MLA Vetrivel before Justice CV Karthikeyan about the petition. The case is expected to come up on Monday.
In a statement on September 1, TTV Dhinakaran had said that his faction will be taking legal action against the General Council meeting initiated by Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam. He also stated that there was no clarification on the agenda of the meeting and had asked party functionaries and MLAs not to attend the meeting.
Friday’s petition also comes a day after Dhinakaran had met with Governor Vidyasagar Rao demanding that CM EPS prove his majority in the House.
Speaking to reporters in Tirunelveli, Dhinakaran said, “Our goal is to change the CM who does not enjoy the confidence of MLAs. General Council that has been convened is illegal. Action will be taken against those who attend the General Council. We are discussing with MLAs on bringing a no confidence motion.”
Nineteen MLAs had on August 22 filed individual petitions with the Governor expressing lack of confidence in Edappadi and seeking a floor test in the Assembly. However, on Thursday AIADMK MLA from Cumbum ST Jakkaiyan, who had earlier pledged support to TTV, defected to the ruling camp.