Daijiworld Media Network - Chennai
Chennai, Jun 29: Former AIADMK minister and Karur MLA M R Vijayabhaskar resigned from his Assembly post on Monday, becoming the sixth AIADMK legislator to step down amid a continuing political exodus from the party.
Vijayabhaskar submitted his resignation letter to Assembly Speaker J C Prabhakar. The Speaker later confirmed that the MLA had submitted a handwritten resignation under Assembly Rule 21, which was accepted as per Rule 22.
With his resignation, the AIADMK’s strength in the Tamil Nadu Assembly has fallen from 47 to 41 members.
Vijayabhaskar is expected to join the ruling Tamizhaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) in the coming days, according to sources. His move has intensified allegations against the ruling party of attempting to attract legislators from opposition parties.
AIADMK and AMMK leader T T V Dhinakaran continued to target the ruling party, alleging that efforts were being made to lure MLAs to strengthen the government.
Vijayabhaskar’s resignation comes two weeks after his former cabinet colleague C Vijayabhaskar stepped down from his MLA post on June 16. Both leaders were among the 25 legislators who supported Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay’s government during the confidence motion held on May 13.
The induction of Viralimalai MLA and former health minister C Vijayabhaskar into TVK, initially scheduled for June 29, has reportedly been postponed to later this week. Sources indicated that M R Vijayabhaskar may also join the party soon.
Earlier, four former MLAs — Maragatham Kumaravel, P Sathyabama, S Jayakumar and Esakki Subaya — joined TVK on May 25 and 26.