MLA dies, AIADMK tally falls to 115 in House

AIADMK legislator AK Bose died of a cardiac arrest in Tamil Nadu’s Madurai district on early hours of Thursday. The 69-year-old three-time MLA represented the Thiruparankundram assembly constituency.

Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and Deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam paid homage to the deceased leader and expressed their condolences to his family. “AIADMK has lost a loyal cadre,” AIADMK said in a statement. With the death of the lawmaker, AIADMK’s tally in the 234-member assembly has dropped down to 115.

The Thiruparankundram assembly will now see a second by-election in two years. Bose had contested and won a by-election after his predecessor SM Seenivelu died in 2016.

Bose’s nomination for the by-poll turned controversial as the documents were attested by former Chief Minister and AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa when she was in the hospital, with a thumb impression. The DMK and others who had accused the AIADMK of not revealing Jayalalithaa’s true condition questioned whether she was conscious when her thumb-print was taken.

The DMK candidate for the by-polls, Dr P Saravanan went to the Madras High Court arguing that the nomination papers were illegal.

Tributes Paid

CM Edappadi K Palaniswami and Deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam paid homage to the deceased leader and expressed their condolences to his family.