New Delhi: A delegation of opposition parties, including Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Congress, the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) met on Thursday with the president Ram Nath Kovind floor in the Tamil Nadu Assembly.
Opposition parties in Tamil Nadu claimed that the government has “reduced” a minority of 21 MPs who owe allegiance to the AIADMK faction of TTV Dhinakaran, withdrawing their support of the PM E Palanisamy and therefore demanded a test of a floor.
CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury, who was present at the meeting, argued that a party can not govern a state if the party does not mandate the state and believes that a floor test is the only way to reach a solution.
“The point is that any government in a country has to enjoy the majority of legislative members that can be demonstrated only on the floor of the house. Without a floor test, any measure taken by the government does not have the mandate of one most, “Yechury told the media after the meeting.
Echoing Yechury’s views, Congressman Rajya Sabha MP Anand Sharma said floor testing is a necessary step to address political instability in Tamil Nadu.
He said: “The government and the prime minister had lost the majority. The opposition leader urged the governor to convene an urgent session of the TN Assembly.”
He added that the President has been informed of the situation of 21 deputies who give their withdrawal letters of support to the AIADMK government.
The meeting comes after DMK President MK Stalin criticized Governor C Vidyasagar Rao’s way of working.
Stalin said Wednesday that the governor “did not fulfill his duties” and declared this as the reason to plan to meet with President Kovind.
Stalin, while speaking to the press, said that Governor Rao was giving in to politics, adding: “From the beginning, we have been saying that the Government of the Union is behind everything that happens in Tamil Nadu.”
Stalin also said that if no action is taken against the Tamil Nadu government, even after meeting with the president, they will “consider legal action.”
