Guv Rao seeks report on TN Assembly incidents from Secy
Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, opposition DMK and the dissident camp in the AIADMK led by O Pannerselvam on Sunday had separate meetings with Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao at the Raj Bhavan here.
The meetings come a day after the Palaniswami government won the vote of confidence by a margin of 122-11 in the Assembly. Palaniswami was accompanied by his cabinet colleagues including P Thangamani, S P Velumani, C Ve Shanmugam and D Jayakumar during his meeting with Rao which an official release described as a “courtesy call”.
Palaniswami had a brief discussion with Rao, it said. DMK, whose MLAs were en masse evicted from the Assembly before the voting on the confidence motion, appealed to Rao to “nullify” the vote of confidence won by Sasikala loyalist Palaniswami, alleging it was adopted by contravening the Assembly rules. In a representation submitted to Rao, DMK working president M K Stalin, also the Leader of the Opposition, urged him to “nullify the entire proceedings” to “protect the spirit of democracy and the Constitution”.
DMK Rajya Sabha members R S Bharathi, T K S Elangovan, and Tiruchi N Siva met Rao and submitted the representation. Later, O Panneerselvam also met Rao and requested him not to recognise the confidence motion adopted in the Assembly. Panneerselvam, along with some of his supporters including MLA S Semmalai, met the Governor for about 20 minutes.
K Pandiarajan, a former minister and Panneerselvam loyalist, told reporters that they told Rao “the trust vote does not fit into the Constitutional scheme of things”. “Hence, we have urged the Governor that he should not recognise the trust vote (and its outcome),” he said, adding Rao has been requested “to fix another date for the motion of confidence”.
Panneerselvam also apprised the Governor that he and Opposition parties had demanded secret ballot for voting on the trust motion so that legislators could “express their choice in a free manner”. Rao was also informed about the unsavoury incidents in the House on Saturday. After having separate meetings with Palaniswami, DMK MPs, and Pannerselvam and his followers, Rao left for Mumbai.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao has sought a report from the Assembly Secretary on the unsavoury incidents witnessed in the House when Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami won a trust vote. Rao has sought “a factual report,” on the entire proceedings from the time the House assembled at 11 am on February 18 and till it was adjourned sine die at 3.27 pm, sources told PTI. The report shall be complete with all documentary and videographic evidence, it has been indicated by the Governor, they said.
Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Secretary A M P Jamaludeen has been asked to submit the report. Rao’s seeking of report comes against the background of Leader of Opposition in the Assembly M K Stalin, and dissident AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam’s demand that the trust vote be nullified.
Rao will be releasing a brochure on the key events in Tamil Nadu beginning with late Jayalalithaa’s hospitalisation on September 22, 2016 till he invited Palaniswami to form the government, sources said. They said Rao was constrained to take up the initiative in view of doubts being expressed about Jayalalithaa’s passing away in some quarters and claims over alleged delay in taking steps for forming a new government after Panneerselvam had resigned on February 5.
Palaniswami won the trust vote by a 122-11 margin on Saturday after the eviction of DMK members and and walkout by its allies, amid stormy scenes during which mikes were uprooted, chairs toppled and sheets of papers torn and hurled around. Immediately after the eviction of DMK, Stalin had met the Governor and urged him to postpone the trust vote. (PTI)