Chennai: TNCC president S. Thirunavukkarasar on Monday criticised the DMK MLAs for sitting on Speaker P. Dhanapal's chair and demanded the suspension of policemen who attacked DMK working president M.K. Stalin.
Staying neutral between the ruling AIADMK and ally DMK, Thirunavukkarasar opposed the Speaker's decision of evicting the DMK MLAs and conducting the confidence vote. The TNCC leader had not taken part in the DMK's protests against the Speaker's action and he had not met Stalin after the Assembly ruckus.
Strongly denying that he delayed the announcement of Congress stand on confidence motion moved by Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palanisami, Thirunavukkarasar said a few people in the party spread the rumours that he wanted to support the government.
He told reporters at Sathyamurthy Bhavan that the Congress high command took a decision of not supporting any one of the two groups in the AIADMK during the power struggle. Party vice president Rahul Gandhi also said the party's stand would be intimated before the confidence vote in the Assembly.
The Congress leader said he had conveyed to the high command about the confidence vote, but a decision was communicated to him at around 10.30 pm.
The decision of Congress was conveyed to DMK working president M.K. Stalin and Congress MLAs during the night. Thirunavukkarasar also said he announced the party's decision on the morning of the confidence motion. A mischievous campaign alleging that he wanted to support the AIADMK and the high command thwarted it had been falsely spread by a few people, he charged.
The campaign was aimed at confusing and dividing the party, he said and asserted that he would not take any decision without the consent of Rahul Gandhi and other leaders of the Congress high command. Reacting to a question on the allegations of former TNCC president E.V.K.S. Elangovan, he said it was not necessary to answer the views of Elangovan.
