New MLAs of Vikravandi, Nanguneri take oath

Meanwhile, A John Kumar of the Congress Party, elected from Kamaraj Nagar Assembly constituency in the October 21 by-election, also took oath as legislator.

Tamil Nadu Speaker P Dhanapal administered the oath to the two members at his Chamber at the Secretariat. Chief Minister and AIADMK joint coordinator Edappadi K Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister and party coordinator O Panneerselvam, Ministers and MLAs were present on the occasion.

In the October 21 bypolls, Muthamizhselvan was elected from Vikravandi Assembly constituency, while Narayanan was elected from Nanguneri seat.

With the inclusion of the two new MLAs the strength of the AIADMK in the 234-member House increased to 124 (excluding the Speaker).The Opposition DMK has 100 members, its allies the Congress (7) and IUML (one), besides an Independent.

Meanwhile in Puducherry, Congress MLA A John Kumar took oath as a legislator on Friday. At a function organised on the Legislative Assembly premises, Speaker VP Sivakolundhu administered the oath of office and secrecy to Kumar after the latter produced his election certificate.Later, Chief Minister V Narayanasamy, his Cabinet colleagues, Lok Sabha member V Vaithilingam, Congress and DMK legislators, DMK (North) Convener SP Sivakumar, former CPI state secretary Na Ra Kalainathan, T Murugan from (CPM), Amudhavan (VCK) and other leaders of the coalition parties greeted John Kumar.It may be noted that Kumar was elected from Nellithoppe constituency in the 2016 Assembly elections.

However, he had later resigned his post to enable Chief Minister Narayanasamy to contest from the constituency to become a member of the territorial Assembly within six months of assuming the Chief Minister’s post.

Meanwhile, the Kamaraj Nagar constituency fell vacant as Vaithilingam had resigned to successfully contest the last Lok Sabha election from Puducherry. With the induction of Kumar, the strength of the Congress in the Assembly has been restored to 15. TheCongress enjoys the support of the three-member DMK from outside.