Trust vote: Will oppose Edappadi K Palaniswami in Tamil Nadu Assembly, says MK Stalin

Chennai: As Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami gears up to seek a trust vote in the Assembly on Saturday, DMK working president MK Stalin said his party MLAs will oppose the loyalist of VK Sasikala.

Addressing the mediapersons Stalin said, “If Palaniswami seeks vote of confidence tomorrow, we will oppose him in the Assembly. Our 89 MLAs will vote against him.”

"To express our opposition to the AIADMK government, we will vote against the Palaniswami government in the motion of confidence that will be taken up tomorrow," he added.

Commenting on the ongoing political tussle within the AIADMK, the DMK leader said, “People from all walks of life have been badly affected due to political crisis in Tamil Nadu.”

Meanwhile, O Panneerselvam has vowed to continue his fight against Sasikala and her family "till the time Amma (Jayalalithaa) regime is restored."

Though Panneerselvam now has the backing of 11 MLAs, experts feel he can jolt the government if he is able to wean away a few legislators from the Palaniswami camp and render it a minority government.

While DMK has a strength of 89, Congress has eight, IUML one in the Assembly and one seat is vacant.

AIADMK has 134 MLAs in the 234-member legislative assembly.

Palaniswami will be seeking the confidence vote in line with Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao asking him to do so on Thursday while inviting him to form the government.

A revolt by Panneerselvam against Sasikala last week resulted in a political stalemate with AIADMK supporters divided between the two camps.

In an intra-party power struggle, Panneerselvam had rebelled against Sasikala on February 7, alleging he was forced to step down to make way for her becoming Chief Minister.

She had been elected the AIADMK Legislature Party leader on February 5.

But the Governor had apparently chosen to await the outcome of the Supreme Court verdict in the disproportionate assets case, in which Sasikala has been convicted and is serving prison term in Bengaluru.