Karunaas withdraws no-confidence motion against Assembly Speaker

His move was confirmed by the Speaker himself, while addressing newspersons after the first day of the ongoing Assembly session. Karunaas had submitted the petition to invoke a no-confidence motion against Dhanapal last October.

Karunaas also met Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and submitted a memorandum comprising several demands, including the renaming of Madurai Airport after Muthuramalinga Thevar and passing a GO reclassifying all the 68 De-Notified Communities (DNCs) as De-Notified Tribes (DNTs). 

He also sought the inclusion of Muthuramalinga Thevar in the school syllabus and the implementation of a GO passed by late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, which brought Kallar, Maravar and Agamudaiyar under the single bracket of ‘Thevars’.

Speaking to reporters, Karunaas described his meeting with Palaniswami as ‘formal’ and said there was no political reasons behind it. He, however, refused to reply when asked about his decision to withdraw the no-confidence petition against Dhanapal. 

Wednesday’s development came as a surprise to many a AIADMK cadre since Karunaas had extended his support to AMMK leader and RK Nagar legislator TTV Dhinakaran. He had also spoken ill of the AIADMK and the ruling government at a public meeting, following which he was arrested.

According to a AIADMK source, who was taken aback by Karunaas’ move, the Thiruvadanai MLA was against the State Government as evident from his media interviews till Tuesday but withdrew his petition unexpectedly.