New Indian chief minister wins key vote
Tamil Nadu state’s top politician, Edappadi Palanisamy, secures governing majority in assembly poll after violence breaks out
CHENNAI // The new chief minister of India’s Tamil Nadu state yesterday won a confidence vote in the regional assembly, hours after legislators came to blows over a bitterly fought leadership contest.
Shouting slogans, legislators disrupted the assembly before the vote, ripping out microphones and breaking chairs as Edappadi Palanisamy, who was recently sworn in as Tamil Nadu’s chief minister, sought a majority for his government in an attempt to cement his position.
The death of Mr Palanisamy’s predecessor, Jayalalithaa Jayaram, triggered a weeks-long battle over succession.
Her close aide Sasikala was hauled off to prison over corrup- tion just as she was on the verge of becoming the chief minister of the southern state, clearing the way for Mr Palanisamy to take the reins on Thursday.
Mr Palanisamy, 63, secured his majority by winning 122 votes in the 234-member state assembly yesterday, hours after the speaker, who was whisked away to safety by marshals, evicted about 90 opposition politicians for disrupting proceedings. Members of the opposition ripped papers, toppled tables and threw microphones to demand a secret ballot that could allow legislators from the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam ( AIADMK) party to switch sides. Legislators stormed the well of the house and manhandled one another, injuring at least one member who was carried out on a stretcher.
After he won the vote, Mr Palanisamy and supporters paid an emotional tribute at Jayalalithaa’s memorial, where he reportedly broke down in tears.
The vote was expected to draw a line under the long tussle for power, but a rival AIADMK politician, O Panneerselvam, and his supporters vowed to intensify their fight to form the government. “We may have lost the battle today but the war has begun,” said Ma Foi K Pandiarajan, the state’s former education minister. Tamil Nadu, one of India’s most prosperous states, was plunged into political crisis after Jayalalitha’s sudden death last December.
Sasikala – a former video cassette seller who has never held political office or stood for election – emerged as the heir apparent until she was convicted on Tuesday of amassing illegal assets worth US$ 10 million [ Dh36.7m], barring her from holding office for a decade.
The corruption case dates back to the late 1990s, when Jayalalithaa and Sasikala were accused of profiting from the chief minister’s office and acquiring wealth beyond their income.
They were jointly accused of illegally amassing bungalows, luxury cars, tea estates and vast quantities of gold.
Sasikala kept several dozen legislators in a resort outside Chennai over fears that her opponents might try to poach them in the battle for succession.