Tamil Nadu Assembly Asked To Hand Over Video Of Trust Vote To DMK's MK Stalin

Chennai: Tamil Nadu's assembly has been ordered to hand over the video of a chaotic trust vote last month to the opposition DMK's MK Stalin, who has challenged Chief Minister Edappadi Palanisami's win.

The Madras High Court will take up the case on March 24.

Urging the court to cancel the trust vote, Mr Stalin has also challenged the eviction of DMK lawmakers from the house before voting.

The DMK had demanded a secret ballot, alleging that lawmakers of the ruling AIADMK were being forced to vote for a candidate handpicked by VK Sasikala.

There is no provision for a secret ballot, the state assembly secretary told the High Court.
 Mr Palaniswami sailed through the trust vote by winning 122 votes after 88 DMK legislators were evicted by Speaker P Dhanapal for violence in the house. The 11 votes against him were cast by the rebel faction in the ruling AIADMK, led by former Chief Minister 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 that erupted after the Speaker first announced the trust vote - rejecting a demand by the DMK, the Congress and the AIADMK rebels for secret voting - lawmakers moved chairs, toppled the Speaker's table, pulled out mics and heckled Mr Dhanapal.

The Speaker was escorted out of the house, after which a DMK lawmaker was seen laughing and sitting in his chair.

DMK lawmakers led by MK Stalin sat down on the floor of the house and protested when the Speaker ordered their eviction.

Mr Stalin's shirt was unbuttoned and dishevelled when he was finally led out of the assembly along with his party legislators. He alleged that he had been manhandled by security personnel on the ruling party's orders.

After the DMK's exit, the Speaker went ahead with the trust vote.