Tamil Nadu political crisis: Supreme Court seeks Attorney General's help to examine O Panneerselvam's trust vote plea

In a possible trouble for the Tamil Nadu chief minister E Palaniswami, the Supreme Court will examine if the trust vote won by him on 18 February was valid on 11 July, reported Hindustan Times. [caption id=“attachment_3733617” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of former Tamil Nadu chief minister O Panneerselvam. PTI[/caption] The apex court has sought the assistance of Attorney General KK Venugopal in the matter asking if there is any provision for conducting a secret ballot vote during the trust vote in an Assembly. The New Indian Express reported. In his petition to the Supreme Court, former Tamil Nadu chief minister O Panneerselvam challenged the 18 February trust vote in the state Assembly and sought another trust vote via secret ballot. The former Tamil Nadu chief minister alleged that he was made to resign under duress, and the MLAs were threatened to vote for Palaniswami. The petition was filed by Panneerselvam’s aide K Pandiarajan, news18.com reported. The plea questioned as to why the Speaker did not postpone the proceedings and did not carry the vote of confidence motion through a secret ballot, The New Indian Express reported. Tamil Nadu plunged into political uncertainty after chief minister and AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa died on 5 December. A Jayalalithaa loyalist, O Panneerselvam, was appointed the caretaker chief minister but was allegedly forced to resign by VK Sasikala, a longtime confidante of the late chief minister. Sasikala’s march to the state’s top job was dealt a blow when she was found guilty in a corruption case and sent to jail, reported Hindustan Times. On 16 February, Palaniswami, a loyalist of Sasikala, was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and won the trust vote 122-11 in the 234-member Assembly. The floor test had witnessed chaotic scenes leading to the eviction of the main opposition DMK and a walkout by its allies in protest.