Chennai: Even as the AIADMK headquarters remained sealed on its golden jubilee year, the focus is on Assembly Speaker M Appavu's decision on treating O Panneerselvam and two other legislators, who have been expelled from the party. Though the trio do not face disqualification following expulsion, whether they would be treated as a separate group or as unattached members is being keenly watched.
Soon after being elevated as the new czar of the AIADMK at the general council on July 11, EPS expelled OPS and his trusted lieutenants, R Vaithilingam and Manoj Pandian, both MLAs. Apart from the duo, OPS has no support in the legislature wing of the AIADMK. As such, he is certain to lose his position as Dy Leader of Opposition.
Last year, OPS tried to become the Leader of the Opposition, but had to eat a humble pie and accept this. Now, the meeting of the AIADMK MLAs on Sunday, a day ahead of the Presidential election, is expected to name the replacement for OPS. According to party sources, former Minister SP Velumani, a strongman in the Kongu region (Western Tamil Nadu) is the front runner. A staunch loyalist, he belongs to the dominant OBC Goundar community like EPS.
While replacing OPS as Dy LoP faces no big hurdle, he might continue to be a thorn in the flesh for the EPS camp in the assembly. For, the Speaker could either treat the rebel camp as unattached or as AIADMK (II). Further he could await the decision of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on OP Raveendranath, who has been expelled.
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“There is no timeline for the Speaker to decide on the matter. Even the Supreme Court is very cautious in this as it is the exclusive domain of the Speaker. In some cases, Speakers have not taken any decision till the expiry of the assembly's tenure. In the present case, even the seating arrangement in the assembly may not witness a major change as OPS could possibly occupy the front bench, even if declared unattached,” explains senior journalist K Venkataramanan.
For his part, Appavu told the media that he had received a communication only from OPS, which is under consideration. “Panneerselvam had sent a letter a couple days ago asking that no decision should be taken on changing the party office bearers in the legislature like Leader of the Opposition and Chief Whip," the Speaker said.
He had requested that petitions in this regard should not be entertained since the AIADMK general council itself was held in violation of the party rules and the issue was before the Election Commission and the Courts,” Appavu said and added that the plea was under consideration. Tamil Nadu has witnessed similar instances in the past during 1991-96, when Jayalalithaa was Chief Minister.
When MDMK chief Vaiko split from the DMK in 1994, the DMK had two members in the house. While Parithi Ilamvazhuthi remained with the DMK, Selvaraj joined hands with Vaiko and was treated as DMK(II). In the same period, five Congress legislators who were expelled from the party for their support to the ruling AIADMK, were treated as a separate block by the then Speaker Sedapatti R Muthiah.
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Curiously enough, Muthiah had demanded that the expulsion should have authorisation of the then prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao for him to take action. According to analysts, in the case of a split in an opposition party, the Speakers – the government in power - have generally been accommodative of the rebel camp. Whether Appavu plays by the rules of the game or not will have a bearing on OPS' sagging political fortunes.
