DMK legislators evicted en masse from House
Dhanapal refused to listen to DMK's demand saying that the issue was sub judice.
CHENNAI: DMK members were evicted en masse from the Assembly when they resorted to vociferous protests and slogan shouting on Wednesday, the opening day of the Session. They were demonstrating while urging Speaker P. Dhanapal to allow a call attention motion on charges of AIADMK MLAs being bribed to vote in the confidence motion moved by Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on February 18.
After the eviction, the MLAs headed by party working president M.K. Stalin, resorted to road blockade outside the Secretariat and were arrested by the police. As soon as the zero hour began, Stalin who was on his feet appealed to the Speaker to allow a call attention motion by the party on the bribery charges.
Dhanapal refused to listen to DMK's demand saying that the issue was sub judice. The DMK members who were on their feet insisted on their demand being met, but the Speaker said he would not take up the demand as it was based on media reports.
Dhanapal assured that he would take action if the DMK produced concrete evidence, but the DMK members refused to resume their seats and vociferously pressed their demand. Deputy leader of Opposition K. Duraimurugan, who sought the Speaker’s permission to give a suggestion, said something that was expunged by the Speaker.
The Chief Minister condemned Duraimurugan’s remarks. At this juncture, minister P. Thangamani and School education minister K.A. Sengottaiyan recalled that in January 2011 when the AIADMK, in the opposition then, raised a similar issue with an (Nira Radia) audio tape as evidence, Duraimurugan, who was a minister, said the matter was sub judice and could not be discussed. But, the DMK members raised slogans demanding the resignation of the government. The slogan shouting and loud protests continued for about 40 minutes. Finally, the Speaker warned the DMK members that action would be taken if they continued to disrupt the Assembly proceedings.
Amid the din, the Speaker called Commercial taxes minister K.C. Veeramani to introduce the GST Bill. The minister also introduced the bill. The Speaker also asked the ministers to propose their demand for grants. The Speaker then ordered the expulsion of the DMK members by naming them division wise. When the watch and ward entered the Assembly, the DMK MLAs themselves walked out of the house without creating any trouble for the Assembly personnel. Congress and IUML members too walked out the House in support of the DMK’s demand.
The high drama and noisy scenes lasted for about an hour. The MLAs headed by former CM O. Panneerselvam were sitting silently and watching the proceedings.