P. Wilson, a Rajya Sabha Member of the DMK and a senior advocate, has contended that it would be legally incorrect to say the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam secured the votes of 144 legislators during Wednesday’s motion of confidence in the Tamil Nadu Assembly.

“The reported count of 144 votes secured by the Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay in the recent motion of confidence remains a subject of legal debate. If the 25 AIADMK rebels and lone AMMK rebel are disqualified (under anti-defection law), the uncontested total would be 118. Edappadi K. Palaniswami, general secretary of the AIADMK, issued a clear directive to his party members to vote against the motion, a mandate that serves as a clear diktat under Clause 2(b) of the Tenth Schedule. Similarly, Mr. TTV Dhinakaran accused his party’s sole MLA was won over through pecuniary gains,” Mr Wilson said in a social media post.

“Despite these serious allegations, the Speaker permitted the dissenting AIADMK group, led by Mr. Velumani, to cast their votes in favour of the TVK, which critics argue is a violation of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly (TNLA) Rules. Legal experts suggest that if these procedural decisions are challenged before the Governor or a court, the 26 votes could be declared illegal. Furthermore, the Speaker could have appointed a committee to investigate the ‘cash-for-votes’ charges, a procedure approved by the Supreme Court in the Raja Ram Pal case,” he said.

Nevertheless, Mr. Wilson acknowledged that the TVK government would have secured the majority in the House with the 118 votes of his party and those of the Congress and the DMK’s allies, who extended support to it to avoid President’s rule in Tamil Nadu.