TN assembly: No change of seat for expelled AIADMK leader OPS

Expelled AIADMK leader O. Panneerselvam on Monday attended the house proceedings on the first day of the monsoon session of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly even as Leader of the Opposition Edappadi K. Palaniswami faction boycotted the day's proceedings.

Chennai: In an interesting development, expelled AIADMK leader O. Panneerselvam (OPS) on Monday attended the house proceedings on the first day of the monsoon session of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly even as Leader of the Opposition Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) faction boycotted the day's proceedings.

The former Chief Minister OPS was seen participating in the proceedings of the House seated in the chair for AIADMK deputy floor leader. As per sources, EPS "boycotted" the Assembly session because rival faction leader was made to sit as the Assembly Deputy Opposition Leader Chair, the sources said.

Panneerselvam took part in the house proceedings with his faction Vaidhyalingam, Ayyappan, Manoj Pandian also seen seated in their usual seats. Opposition Leader Edappadi K. Palaniswami with his 62 MLAs were absent from the House. The AIADMK had on July 11 expelled rival leader and treasurer O Panneerselvam (OPS) from the party after its General Council members demanded action against him.

Addressing mediapersons after the session, OPS said, "We are attending the assembly session today as AIADMK MLAs. You should ask the EPS faction why they did not attend the assembly session." On being asked about the existing feud in the party, OPS said that it is a dangerous situation that the bylaws of the party are being changed.

A meeting of the AIADMK's General Council(GC) had picked Palaniswami, 68, as its supreme leader and vested in him full powers amid a prolonged internal power struggle shortly after the Madras High Court rejected Panneerselvam's plea to stay the meeting of the rival faction. As soon as Tamil Nadu legislative assembly monsoon session began on Monday, Speaker Appavu adopted resolutions condoling the deaths of Queen Elizabeth, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, former Assembly Speaker Sedappatti and others MLAs, who died recently.

Later the session was adjourned for the day and decided to hold the session for two days till October 19. The reports of Justice Arumugasamy Commission, who probed the death of former Chief Minister J.Jayalalithaa, and that of Justice Aruna Jagadeesan, who probed the Thoothukudi police firing on anti-sterlite protestors in March 2018, in which 13 people were killed, will be tabled in the House on Tuesday.

The House was also expected to introduce a Bill that seeks to replace an Ordinance promulgated banning online gambling in the wake of recent suicides.