When MLAs Cross-Vote: Decoding Vijay's Trust Motion In Tamil Nadu

The trust vote for Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay earlier today was also the battleground for his distant predecessor -- former Chief Minister E Palaniswami. And it was a battle that he lost. The pro-Vijay vote by 24 MLAs of the AIADMK made it clear that the Legislature Party of the AIADMK is no longer under the control of the party boss. The rebel faction led by SP Velumani and  CV Shanmugam, who had been demanding that the party back Vijay, prevailed.

When the voting took place, 24 MLAs of the AIADMK voted for Vijay, 22 against, and one had abstained. 

Vijay, whose party had 105 MLAs -- Vijay gave up one seat, one belonged to the Speaker and one MLA was barred from voting by the court after his victory was challenged -- was backed by 144 lawmakers while 22 voted against them. 

This is not how trust votes usually go. 

In most cases, in case of a difference of opinion within the party, a whip is issued that would compel the rebels to toe the party line. Else, their only option is abstention or resignation, often both.

Read: EPS Sacks CV Shanmugam, Others From AIADMK Posts After Pro-Vijay Vote

In 2019, the 20 rebel MLAs in Karnataka had chosen the first option. The alliance government of HD Kumaraswamy and  the Congress collapsed after losing the trust vote 105-99.

The rebel MLAs -- including 12 from the Congress and 3 from Kumaraswamy's Janata Dal Secular -- first skipped the voting and then resigned. 

Cut to present day Tamil Nadu -- the supporters of Vijay within the AIADMK voted for him on the floor of the House arguing there was no whip.

A whip is issued by the Chief Whip who is appointed by the party. As the AIDMK initiated action against the rebels today under the anti-defection law, arguing that they had ignored the party whip, the rebels claimed that the party has bypassed the rule to discuss the matter with the new MLAs and the so, the appointment was illegal. 

"Newly elected MLAs should be called for the meeting. In that meeting, the Legislature Party leader, Deputy Leader and Whip will get elected. This is law. But EPS says he appointed the Whip. He cannot appoint the Whip," said CV Shanmugam, around whom the rebels have united.

The rub lies in the election of the leader of the Legislature Party. The rebels, claming they outnumber Palaniswami and his supporters, have written to the Speaker, contending that the Legislature Party leader should be from among them. But the Speaker, JCD Prabhakar, who was unanimously elected the day before, has not responded. 

Read: Vijay Wins Floor Test With 144 Votes, 24 AIADMK MLAs Vote For Him

Palaniswami has appointed Agri Krishnamurthy as the whip, who also has to be recognised by the new Speaker. 

The SOP for Speaker in case of a split in a party was laid down by the Supreme Court in 2023 after Maharashtra Speaker Rahul Narvekar took cognisance of only the Eknath Shinde group, appointed Bharat Gogawale as Chief Whip of the Shiv Sena and decided on the disqualification petition of 16 Sena MLAs.

This, the top court said, was "illegal".

In case of a split in the party, it is the duty of the Speaker to ascertain who appointed the whip and when and hear both sides, the Supreme Court had said.

Under the anti-defection law, the rebels can be disqualified as MLAs as well, which, in this case, would call for a by-election in all 24 seats.