CHENNAI: Former Minister M R Vijayabhaskar, who was elected from the Karur constituency in the April 23 Assembly elections as a AIADMK candidate, resigned from the post on Monday, purportedly with a view to joining the ruling TVK and getting a nomination to contest in the by-election to become an MLA from the same constituency that had elected him in the general elections.
Since the Assembly Speaker J C D Prabhakar accepted the resignation handed over to him, the Karur constituency might see the by-election along with the seven other vacant seats, including Trichy East, from which Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay won and then resigned because he was also elected from Perumbur in Chennai.
Already, former AIADMK Minister and present MLA from Viralimalai, C Vijayabhaskar has quit the Assembly sometime back and before that four MLAs of the party started the trend by joining the TVK after leaving their MLA posts to avoid the anti-defection law.
So far six MLAs belonging to the AIADMK have resigned their elected posts, creating a crisis in the party. Though 25 of the total 46 MLAs of the party voted in favour of the TVK in the vote of confidence, risking the invocation of the anti-defection law, the leaders of the rebel group S P Velumani and others went for a rapprochement with party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami and thwarted disqualification.
But still another leader of the rebel group, C V Ve Shanmugham, is keeping a distance from the party leadership, avoiding attending Assembly sessions. He, too, might quit and join the TVK, it is rumoured.
Even the relationship between Palaniswami and Velumani has soured in the last few days and there is a definite chance of him and some of his close associates moving out, putting the AIADMK legislative party in jeopardy by bringing down its strength in the House.
Among the four seats that fell vacant when the first batch of AIADMK MLAs left the party, one is Ambasamudram, which was vacated by Esakki Subaya. Now Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) chief coordinator Seeman has announced his candidature from the constituency in Tirunelveli district.
So, the prospects of Esakki Subaya, who is hoping to be nominated for the same seat by the TVK, could be diminished as there is also a rumour that the other political parties might not field candidates to make it a direct fight between the TVK and NTK.
The other MLAs who quit along with Esakki Subaya setting a trend were P Sathyabama from Dharapuram, Maragatham Kumaravel from Madurantakam and S Jayakumar from Perundurai, all of whom are eagerly waiting for the by-election through which they hope to become ruling party representatives in the Assembly.
All the candidates are said to enjoy a personal rapport with the voters and hope to win again though it is not clear if they were voted in on the strength of their party affiliation, that is AIADMK. A clear picture of their popularity will emerge only after the by-election.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: deccanchronicle.com
