AIADMK says disqualified MLAs sure to return

• Rebels rubbish talks of desertions

Chennai: The ruling AIADMK on Tuesday asserted that the return of 18 disqualified MLAs to the party was "bound to happen" even as the rebels dismissed talks of desertions in their camp and said they continued to back their leader T T V Dhinakaran.

Senior leader and Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar said those who have accepted late chief ministers M G Ramachandran (AIADMK founder) and J Jayalalithaa as their 'eternal leaders,' will come back to the party fold. The AIADMK's mouthpiece, 'Namathu Puratchi Thalaivi Amma,' also extended an indirect invitation to the disqualified MLAs to return to the party.

Their comments come a day after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister party top leader K Palaniswami welcomed the idea of the disqualified MLAs returning to the AIADMK.

However, the disqualified MLAs on Tuesday hit out at the ruling party and its leaders, accusing them of spreading rumours that there were differences in the Dhinkaran camp.

Talking to reporters here, they said all of them remained united and attempts to break the camp would be futile.

Speculations about possibility of a section of the disqualified MLAs coming back to AIADMK have been doing rounds ever since Thanga Tamilselvan, a key loyalist of the sidelined leader, announced his decision to withdraw his plea in the court challenging his disqualification as an MLA.

Tamilselvan made the surprise announcement after the Madras High Court on June 14 gave a split verdict on the petitions challenging the disqualification of the 18 AIADMK MLAs by Assembly Speaker P Dhanapal in 2017.

Jayakumar said those who went away, whether MLAs or ex-MLAs or even an ordinary supporter, they all should accept Amma and 'Puratchi Thalaivar' (MGR) (as leaders). "...it is for sure that those who have accepted them as their eternal leaders will return to the party," he told reporters earlier in the day.

While party supporters address Jayalalithaa as Amma, they hail MGR as Puratchi Thalaivar (revolutionary leader). In Tamil, Jayakumar described the possible return of the disqualified MLAs as "kaalathin kattayam" (roughly translating to 'bound to happen').

"They all have to come, they will come," he said but declined to reveal if any of the ex-legislators were in talks with the AIADMK high command. In a write-up titled 'Netru, Indru, Naalai' (Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow) the AIADMK mouthpiece recalled Jayalalithaa earlier having discarded her confidante, the jailed V K Sasikala, and her family members, including Dhinakaran.

While crediting the late chief minister for 'toiling' for the victory of the MLAs, who have been disqualified now, it also accused Dhinakaran of winning the December 2017 by-poll to RK Nagar here with its arch rival DMK's support.

Those with gratitude should make it their motto to strive towards fulfilling Jayalalithaa's dream of "a hundred years" of AIADMK rule, it said.

"Let that happen at the earliest," it said, apparently referring to the possible return of the disqualified MLAs.

Tamilselvan said they were all united and continued to support Dhinakaran, while some others in the camp claimed barring Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam, all others in the ruling dispensation would cross over to their side.

Tamilselvan maintained that his decision to withdraw the petition in the Madras High Court was taken only after consultations with Dhinakaran.

The ruling party and its leaders were involved in "spreading rumours" that there were differences between him and Dhinakaran. "This is not true," he told reporters.

The MLAs were disqualified under the ant-defection law after they met the then state governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao and sought "change" in leadership, saying they had lost confidence in Palaniswami.

They had called on the governor a day after the factions led by Palaniswami and erstwhile rebel leader Panneerselvam merged on August 21, 2017.

In the split verdict, Chief Justice Indira Banerjee has upheld the September 18 order of the Speaker disqualifying the MLAs, while Justice M Sundar disagreed with her and set it aside.

The verdict had come as great relief for the Palaniswami government as restoration of the membership of the MLAs could have brought it perilously close to losing majority in the event of their joining hands with opposition DMK-Congress-IUML alliance, which has a combined strength of 98 MLAs in the 234-member Assembly.

In that eventuality, the opposition's strength would have swelled to 117, including Dhinakaran, who is the lone independent MLA. The AIADMK also has 117 members in the House, including the Speaker.