In a significant move, the Leader of the Opposition and General Secretary of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), Edappadi K. Palaniswami, has taken legal action by filing a writ petition in the Madras High Court. His petition seeks a directive for the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly secretary and Speaker M. Appavu to recognize R.B. Udhayakumar as the Deputy Leader of the Opposition and ‘Agri’ S.S. Krishnamurthy as the Deputy Secretary of the AIADMK Legislature Party.A few weeks ago, more than a dozen AIADMK legislators met Tamil Nadu Speaker M Appavu urging him to replace expelled O Panneerselvam with R B Udhayakumar as their partyâs deputy leader of opposition in the state assembly.
They have also requested a change in seating arrangement since colleagues-turned-rivals Panneerselvam and AIADMK general secretary and leader of opposition Edappadi Palaniswami are seated together in the present arrangement.