The chief whip of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Thursday asked for the disqualification of 19 MLAs who withdrew support for the chief minister and had asked the governor to hold an Assembly vote.

S Rajendran said that the legislators had gone against party guidelines when they supported ousted Deputy General Secretary TTV Dinakaran and demanded the chief minister prove his majority in the Assembly.

The 19 MLAs were taken to a resort in Puducherry soon after they withdrew support for Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami. Dinakaran has said the whip’s move was an “open threat” against the MLAs, The News Minute reported.

If the MLAs are disqualified, the ruling AIADMK could easily win a floor test. They now have 114 votes, but would need 117 in the 234-member Assembly. Besides Dinakaran’s supporters, the Congress and Opposition party Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam have also asked Palaniswami to prove his majority in the Assembly.