Chennai, March 18 -- Tamil Nadu's principal opposition AIADMK's no-confidence motion on Monday seeking to remove assembly speaker M Appavu was defeated, with 154 MLAs from the ruling DMK and its allies including the Congress against it in a voice vote. AIADMK's 63 MLAs supported it. The BJP and its ally PMK skipped both the discussion on the resolution and the voting process.

The AIADMK had moved the resolution charging that the speaker is biased and "acting like a DMK worker" inside the House and wanted him removed from the position. Chief minister and DMK president M K Stalin reacted that people would "laugh" at such a resolution.

But even the AIADMK leaders who were expelled by party chief and leader of opposition Edappadi Palaniswam...