Chennai: In scenes reminiscent of ‘Operation Lotus’ in states like Karnataka and lending credence to allegations of ‘horse-trading’, three rebel AIADMK deputies who voted in favor of TVC government during the May 13 confidence vote resigned from their posts on Monday and immediately joined the ruling party.
The move – which observers believe is likely to be followed by more rebel AIADMK MPs – is aimed at helping the ruling TVK secure its majority in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly without depending on support from alliance partners. TVK currently has 107 MPs and is supported by 13 MPs from Congress, VCK, CPI(M), CPI and IUML.
Right now, four constituencies — including Tiruchirapalli (East), which was vacated by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay — will go to polls. However, the sources said f that the TVK camp is in touch with at least half a dozen AIADMK MLAs who are likely to submit their papers in the coming days.
These former MPs, who escaped disqualification under the anti-defection law by resigning, are believed to have been promised TVK tickets for the upcoming by-elections.
The development is a body blow to the AIADMK, which has ruled Tamil Nadu for 30 years of its 53 years of existence. After reaching 47 MPs — already the party’s second-lowest in a losing election — these latest resignations have reduced their strength to 44.
The first phase of Operation Whistle was executed and completed with pinpoint timing in just about two hours, with the signature of Aadhav Arjuna — son-in-law of PWD minister and lottery baron Santiago Martin — written on it.
Arjuna’s mother-in-law Leema Rose Martin is also a member of the rebel group AIADMK, having been elected from Lalgudi in Tiruchirapalli.
The MLAs — Maragadham Kumaravelu (Madhuranthagam), Jeyakumar (Perundurai) and Sathyabama (Dharapuram) — submitted their resignation letters at 2:30 pm. They then went upstairs to meet Arjuna at 2:45 PM in his Secretariat room to collect their TVK membership cards. At 3:55 PM, the Speaker accepted their resignations and they met Chief Minister Vijay at 4:15 PM.
The development came even as four rebel MLAs loyal to former ministers C Ve Shanmugam and PS Velumani left the rebel camp on Monday to return to the AIADMK fold, meeting general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami and reducing the strength of the rebel fold from 25 to 17. With this, the Palaniswami’s tally rises to seven.
The resignations and subsequent integration into TVK have debunked the claims made by Vijay during the election campaign that TVK is a ‘Thooya Sakthi’ (pure force).
The AIADMK was quick to term the resignations as evidence of “horse-trading” by the TVK, with its general secretary, Edappadi K Palaniswami, accusing the ruling party of introducing “horse-trading and degrading political practices” in Tamil Nadu. Former prime minister and DMK president MK Stalin alleged that horse-trading was being done at “horse speed” and asked the Congress for its support for the TVK.
Although such operations have been common in states like Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, this is the first time such a development has taken place in Tamil Nadu. During the 2011-2016 term, the then chief minister J Jayalalithaa engineered defections to actor Vijayakanth’s DMDK, but those legislators never resigned to contest the by-elections.
‘Operation Lotus’ is a term used by opposition parties in India to attack the BJP for toppling or weakening rival governments by engineering defections.
A crisis has erupted in the AIADMK since the party was pushed to third position in the April 23 assembly elections, with the Velumani faction breaking away and supporting the confidence vote moved by Vijay on May 13, ignoring Palaniswami’s direction to vote against it.
The rebel MLAs, after the TVK ignored their request to be inducted into the cabinet, staged a coup by accepting Palaniswami’s leadership, after which compromise talks began to reach a ceasefire. However, a group broke away from the rebels and resigned from their posts, with sources indicating that more lawmakers will join the TVK camp.
