CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu assembly has been asked to hand over a video of a chaotic trust vote last month to Opposition DMK's MK Stalin, who has challenged Chief Minister Edappadi Palanisami's election. Stalin has also challenged the eviction of DMK lawmakers from the house before voting, urging the court to cancel the trust vote. The Madras High Court will take up the case on March 24.
Stalin's party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham had demanded a secret ballot, alleging the lawmakers of the ruling AIADMK were being forced to vote for a candidate handpicked by VK Sasikala. The state assembly secretary told the high court that there is no provision for a secret ballot, which saw E Palaniswami win. He smoothly sailed through the trust vote, winning 122 votes after 88 DMK legislators were evicted by Speaker P Dhanapal for violence in the house. The only 11 votes against him were from the AIADMK's rebel faction led by former Chief Miniter O Panneerselvam. The DMK says the trust vote is illegal because it was introduced twice- once in the morning and again after two adjournments in the house.
In the chaos, the Speaker was escorted out of the house, after which a DMK lawmaker was seen laughing and sitting on his chair, Stalin's shirt was unbuttoned and dishevelled when he was finally led out of the assembly along with his party legislators.
