Nine AIADMK MLAs take oath in a low-key ceremony at Speaker’s office

The swearing-in ceremony was a low-profile programme as only Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and few senior ministers were present. Unlike the swearing-in ceremony of DMK MLAs, supporters of the newly elected MLAs were largely absent from the Secretariat premises.

The by-elections for 22 constituencies were conducted in two phases, first on April 18 and another on May 19. In the elections, the DMK won 13 seats and AIADMK won 9 seats. The DMK MLAs took pledge on Tuesday and AIADMK MLAs took pledge on Wednesday.

After the swearing-in ceremony, the official number of MLAs for the AIADMK in the Assembly goes up to 123, including the Speaker. The ruling AIADMK is sitting pretty with majority in the Assembly as the required number for a majority is 118 MLAs.

Out of the remaining 111 seats, DMK has 101 seats and its allies, Congress and IUML have seven and one seat respectively.

One seat is now with the AMMK leader, TTV Dhinakaran and another seat is vacant following the resignation of former Nanguneri MLA H Vasantha Kumar, who recently won from Kanniyakumari Lok Sabha constituency.