Tamil Nadu Speaker P Dhanapal on Monday disqualified 18 MLAs of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam who backed ousted party Deputy General Secretary TTV Dinakaran. Dhanapal took action under the 1986 Tamil Nadu Assembly Members Party Defection law.

Seventeen of the 18 MLAs said they would move court against the Speaker’s decision to disqualify them from the Assembly.

The Madras High Court on September 14 said there will be no floor test in the Tamil Nadu assembly till September 20. The court was hearing a plea by Dinakaran’s faction.

The move by Dinakaran, VK Sasikala’s nephew, came after his appeal to Tamil Nadu Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao last month to act on removing Chief Minister K Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam, and holding a floor test in the Assembly.