Chennai: Ahead of tomorrow’s crucial floor test, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and TVK President Vijay has faced a significant setback. The Madras High Court has issued an important stay order, restraining a TVK party MLA from voting in the assembly due to allegations of electoral malpractice.

Shock for MLA Srinivasa Sethupathi

This restriction has been imposed on R. Srinivasa Sethupathi, the TVK MLA from the Tiruppattur assembly constituency.

In the previous election, Sethupathi won against DMK candidate and former minister K.R. Periyakaruppan by a slim margin of just one vote. Periyakaruppan had approached the court to challenge this result.

Malpractice in Postal Ballot Counting?

Periyakaruppan's complaint alleged that irregularities occurred during the counting of Postal Ballots.

Serious allegations were made stating that postal ballots from one constituency were mistakenly sent to another and were not correctly accounted for during the counting process. Granting the petition, the High Court ordered that the MLA cannot participate in any legislative process or voting until a final verdict is reached. However, the court has not yet cancelled his status as an MLA.

Intense Curiosity Over Tomorrow’s Floor Test

Chief Minister Vijay is set to prove his majority in the Legislative Assembly tomorrow, making every single vote extremely precious.

AIADMK Support: Currently, 30 AIADMK MLAs have declared their support for the Vijay government.

Signs of Trouble: If political equations shift and the AIADMK withdraws its support, the Vijay government may face a shortage of numbers to maintain a majority. The court has directed the Election Commission to secure the video recordings and documents of the vote counting for this constituency, and tomorrow's developments have drawn national attention.