AIADMK petitions governor over TVK ‘poaching’

CHENNAI: The AIADMK on Saturday petitioned Governor RV Arlekar, demanding immediate intervention to stop chief minister C Jospeh Vijay’s Tamiliga Vettri Kazhagam from poaching its MLAs and halt ongoing “horse-trading”.Accompanied by Rajya Sabha MP M Dhanapal, party whip Agri SS Krishnamurthy submitted a representation to the Governor on behalf of AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami.“We have submitted our party leader’s representation to the Governor, urging him to intervene and stop the TVK from poaching AIADMK lawmakers,” Krishnamurthy said. The move follows the recent resignation of four AIADMK MLAs— Margatham Kumaravel (Madurantakkam), S Jayakumar (Perundurai), P Sathyabama (Dharapuram), and Esakki Subaya (Ambasamudram) — who subsequently joined the TVK.Krishnamurthy accused the TVK of turning the state secretariat into a virtual party office to facilitate defections. “We urged the Governor to act under Article 161 of the Constitution,” Krishnamurthy added. Under this provision, the Governor can seek a report from the chief secretary and the assembly secretary regarding the horse-trading allegations.An AIADMK legal team member confirmed that Palaniswami also requested a high-level committee to probe the timeline of the resignations and subsequent defections to the TVK.“This representation officially records our leader’s efforts to stop horse-trading, which will strengthen our case when we approach the judiciary against the four MLAs who joined TVK before their seats were declared vacant,” an AIADMK functionary said. “It also exposes how the assembly speaker favored the TVK to help them build numbers, given they are 11 seats short of a simple majority”.The AIADMK is also banking on external legal precedents and growing political consensus to anchor its case. “AMMK leader TTV Dhinakaran’s earlier petition to the Governor regarding the horse-trading of his MLA, S Kamaraj, will serve as solid proof in court,” noted the legal team member. They added that open admissions from various alliance partners, who have publicly slammed the TVK’s approach as “uncivilized and unhealthy politics”,further validate the AIADMK’s stance.The AIADMK has also demanded a detailed investigation into the financial aspects of the alleged defections.Party leaders, including Rajya Sabha MP Dhanapal, pushed for a comprehensive probe by central agencies like the CBI and the Income Tax department, alleging that a massive amount of money changed hands during the horse-trading process.