The Madras High Court is set to rule on pleas against the resignations of six AIADMK MLAs. The case follows their alleged support for the TVK govt. Meanwhile, two of the resigned MLAs won by-elections on TVK tickets, retaining their seats.
The Madras High Court, on Tuesday, will pronounce its verdict on Tuesday on petitions challenging the Speaker’s decision to accept the resignations of six All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) MLAs. The MLAs are Maragatham Kumaravel, Sathyabama, Isakki Subbaiah, Jayakumar, MR Vijayabhaskar and C Vijayabhaskar.
The petitioners have alleged that the resignations were accepted without a proper inquiry while disqualification proceedings against the legislators were pending. The disqualification plea was filed over allegations that the six MLAs voted in support of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) government in violation of the party whip. Earlier, Assembly Speaker JCD Prabhakar accepted the resignations of the six AIADMK MLAs. In this backdrop, AIADMK Whip Agri Krishnamurthy and National People’s Power Party leader Ravi had filed cases seeking to quash the Speaker’s order accepting their resignations. The Bench of Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arulmurugan heard the cases.
Legal Arguments Presented
The Petitioners alleged the Speaker conducted no meaningful inquiry and also pointed to a complaint made to the Governor regarding horse-trading. On the other side, the resigned MLAs argued that resigning and joining another party is democratic politics. The Assembly Secretary’s side submitted that if MLAs give a resignation letter voluntarily, the Speaker cannot refuse to accept it.
By-Election Results Declared
Meanwhile, by-elections were held in Maduranthakam and Dharapuram Assembly constituencies after former AIADMK legislators Maragatham Kumaravel (Maduranthakam) and P Sathyabhama (Dharapuram) resigned to join Joseph Vijay’s TVK. According to the Election Commission, TVK candidate P Sathyabhama won the Dharapuram Assembly constituency by-election with 66,841 votes, and in Maduranthakam, TVK candidate K Maragatham Kumaravel won. Both re-contested under TVK’s whistle symbol and retained their seats with significant margins over opposition candidates from the DMK and AIADMK.
CM Vijay Calls Victory a Rejection of Money-Power Politics
Framing the results as a historic rejection of money-power politics, Tamil Nadu CM Joseph Vijay, in a post on X, asserted that the voters have delivered a resounding verdict in favour of principled democracy, political civility, and individual dignity. “The by-election results for Maduranthakam and Dharapuram have been announced. The top position reflects the primary strength that the people hold in their hearts for our Tamil Nadu Victory League, and the deep subconscious desire of our own people for our conscientious democracy, and has once again been proven,” he wrote on X.
Vijay emphasised that the campaign succeeded without financial inducement or coercive tactics, dismantling transactional politics often associated with previous high-profile by-elections (referencing the infamous Thirumangalam and Erode East formulas). “This is an election won without spending a single paisa on votes, without confining anyone to a list and humiliating them, without any formula like the Thirumangalam or Erode East formula—relying solely on the formula of love, affection, and relationships, and the formula of safeguarding democracy. Tamil Nadu is not a fortress of corrupt forces. On the contrary, it has proven itself to be a fortress of the great people’s power, a fortress of the loving, pure power that has earned an indelible place in the people’s hearts. In the history of Tamil Nadu by-elections, this is a victory that has shattered and crushed the formula of money power like never before,” added the Tamil Nadu CM. (ANI)
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