Sasaikala faction parades 20 hardcore supporter, demands trust vote

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's (AIADMK) troubles seem to be never ending with the hardcore remains of the Sasikala faction uniting to oppose Palaniswami and the new joint front stitched up by the OPS and EPS factions.

A day after the patch-up between the camps led by chief minister Edappadi Palaniswami former chief minister O Panneerselvam, MLAs loyal to AIADMK leaders Saikala and TTV Dhinakaran today met the governor demanding a trust vote as they lost confidence in the chief minister.

"We are going to initiate efforts to bring in a new CM with the help of our supporting MLAs," Dhinakaran supporter and Andipatti MLA Thanga Tamil Selvan told reporters following a meeting with Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao.

The Dhinakaran camp had yesterday claimed the support of 25 AIADMK MLAs.

Raj Bhavan sources confirmed that the meeting took place this morning, but did not divulge details, including the number of members in the delegation and the nature of their interaction with Rao.

"We have informed the governor that we don't have confidence in the chief minister," Selvan said after the MLAs owing allegiance to Dhinakaran, nephew of jailed AIADMK general secretary V K Sasikala, met Rao.

Of the 234-member Assembly, the AIADMK has 134 MLAs excluding the speaker. Late chief minister Jayalalithaa's RK Nagar constituency is still vacant.

The DMK has 89 seats followed by its allies Congress with eight and IUML one seat.

DMK is now hoping to get the Dinakaran faction to its fold and then bargain for power. The party has shot off a letter to the governor asking him to convene the assembly and direct Palaniswami to prove his majority in the House.