VCK, DMDK oppose min posts for AIADMK rebels

Chennai: VCK MP D Ravikumar on Friday urged chief minister C Joseph Vijay not to offer ministerial berths to AIADMK rebel MLAs who backed the TVK govt during the trust vote, warning that such a move would raise serious questions of political morality and ethical propriety.In a post on X, Ravikumar said that the 25 AIADMK MLAs who voted in favour of the govt were liable to face disqualification proceedings under the anti-defection law. Citing the Supreme Court's judgment in Subhash Desai vs state of Maharashtra, Ravikumar said only AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami has the authority to appoint the party whip and issue binding directions to legislators.Ravikumar said the Supreme Court has clarified that Article 164(1-B) does not bar MLAs facing pending disqualification petitions from being appointed ministers until they are formally disqualified. However, he said "legality alone cannot be the sole test in matters affecting constitutional morality and democratic ethics.""If the CM intends to induct them into the ministry, the only constitutionally cleaner course would be for those MLAs to resign their seats, join the TVK formally, and seek a fresh mandate from the people through by-elections," Ravikumar said.DMDK general secretary Premallatha Vijayakant also sought transparency from the govt over support extended by AIADMK rebels to the ruling dispensation. "Not backdoor politics, but open support alone will earn the people's trust," she said.Premallatha urged CM Vijay to clarify that there was "no horse-trading politics" behind the trust vote and said that the rebel MLAs should openly declare that their support was "unconditional".