File picture of AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa.
An AIADMK legislator resigned from the Tamil Nadu Assembly today, sparking speculation that party chief J Jayalalithaa may contest from there to stake her claim to form the government, after the Karnataka High Court recently overturned her conviction in the disproportionate assets case.
AIADMK lawmaker for the Dr Radhakrishnan Nagar Constituency, P Vetrivel, had resigned and his resignation has been accepted, Tamil Nadu Assembly Secretary AMP Jamaludeen said in a statement. Neither Mr Vetrivel nor his party have officially given a reason for the resignation. The party has a brute majority in the Assembly, and the resignation is unlikely to make a dent in its fortunes.
The move comes at a time when Ms Jayalalithaa and her party are paving the way for her return to the state's helm, according to sources. Ms Jayalalithaa would have to be elected within six months of assuming charge of the government.
If Ms Jayalalithaa does indeed maker he re-election bid from the Dr Radhakrishnan Nagar Constituency, it would be the first time that she would contest from a seat in Chennai. The constituency is located in the northern part of the city. A majority of her previous electoral bids have come from rural constituencies spread out across the southern and western parts of Tamil Nadu, where the AIADMK has a strong support base.
The Dr Radhakrishnan Nagar Constituency can be considered a safe seat for the AIADMK, with the party losing it only once since Ms Jayalalithaa emerged as party chief, during its rout from power in the 1996 elections.
Ms Jayalalithaa had been elected from the Srirangam Constituency in the 2011 elections, and had forfeited the seat when she was convicted by a trial court in Karnataka in a disproportionate assets case that ran for close to two decades. The AIADMK has since retained the seat in a bye-election.
The AIADMK had called a meeting of its lawmakers on May 22 at the party headquarters in Chennai, which sparked speculation that Ms Jayalalithaa could be elected the leader of the AIADMK legislature party, paving the way for her return as Chief Minister.