Two days after he was sworn in as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu after a bitter power tussle in the ruling AIADMK, Edappadi K Palaniswami won a trust vote Saturday after chaotic scenes in the Assembly that led to the eviction of the main Opposition DMK and a walkout by its allies in protest -- they together have 98 MLAs in the 234-member House.

With no Opposition MLAs around, the government sailed through with a 122-11 score -- legislators who owe allegiance to rival O Panneerselvam voted against Palaniswami who had earlier been given 15 days by Governor C Vidyasagar Rao to prove majority in the House.

The vote was taken after two adjournments due to the pandemonium and allegations of attacks. Speaker P Dhanapal and Leader of Opposition M K Stalin said their shirts were torn during the fracas. That trouble was on the cards was evident in the morning. There was heavy police presence on roads leading to Fort St George, the state secretariat, and along the 80-km stretch from the Kuvathur resort which housed over 120 AIADMK MLAs who stood by Palaniswami after the conviction of party general secretary V K Sasikala in a disproportionate assets case.

All MLAs assembled at 11 am in the hal. There were two adjournments after the Speaker rejected calls for secret ballot by MLAs of the Opposition and the Panneerselvam camp. DMK leader M K Stalin joined the chorus of the Panneerselvam camp. Stalin and Panneerselvam said all MLAs, who were ferried in vehicles of ministers from the beach resort to the assembly building in the morning, should be allowed to go to their constituencies and come back to vote. They pointed out that the Governor had given 15 days for the trust vote.

But Speaker Dhanapal rejected their demand and allowed Palaniswami to move the vote of confidence motion on the floor of the House, about 50 minutes after the session began. In the meantime, the audio link from the assembly hall to the media room -- no camera or mobile phone is allowed inside -- was also disconnected.

The Speaker, who said he had discretionary powers to take the final call, went ahead with his decision for a division of votes. At this point, DMK MLAs jumped on to the dais of the assembly officers, evading the watch-and-ward staff. This triggered clashes and Opposition MLAs began hurling chairs, damaged the microphone before the Speaker and the chair and table of the assembly staff. The Speaker adjourned the House until 1 pm, a decision which was later changed to 3 pm since DMK MLAs, who were told to leave the House, remained inside.

DMK MLAs were seen pushing the Speaker and at least two of them took turns to sit on the Speaker’s chair -- the visuals found their way to AIADMK channel Jaya TV. An assembly staff member said, “We had information that the DMK planned a showdown outside the assembly once the session would start at 3 pm. The Rapid Action Force was brought in because Speaker Dhanapal too had been manhandled.”

After 1 pm, police entered the assembly building. DMK MLAs, including Stalin, M Subramanian and other senior leaders, were among those evicted. Stalin emerging with a torn, unbuttoned shirt and headed to the Raj Bhavan to lodge a complaint. When the House re-assembled, it passed the confidence motion after division of votes, saving the day for Palaniswami.

An hour later, the entire state cabinet and AIADMK leaders reached the Jayalalithaa memorial on Marina Beach. Stalin too turned up a kilometre away, sitting in protest before the Gandhi statue. This brought hundreds to the beach and police had to be called in.

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