Chennai: With the Budget Session of the Tamil Nadu Assembly set to convene on Thursday, all eyes are now on the the notice for a no-confidence motion against Speaker P. Dhanapal moved by principal Opposition DMK.
The notice for the removal of the presiding chairman of the House was submitted to the Assembly Secretary and Speaker’s office by the DMK last month after its members were forcibly removed from the Assembly following violence inside the hall on February 18 during the trust vote sought by chief minister Edappadi K. Palanisami.
This is perhaps only the second time such a notice has been submitted to bring a no-confidence motion against Speaker. In 1972, the then DMK Government brought a no confidence motion against its Speaker Mathiazhagan after he sided with the then rebel leader MG Ramachandran.
The support or signature of 34 MLAs (10 per cent of the total strength of the Assembly) is needed to bring a no confidence motion against Speaker and it has to be accepted if it is submitted 14 days ahead.
The no-confidence motion is expected to make the Budget Session stormier since the DMK is readying to put the AIADMK Govt, which has a wafer-thin majority in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, to the test. The DMK is planning to raise issues like NEET, Methane and Hydrocarbon extraction, shortage of supply in essential products at ration shops and other issues.
The DMK had on Thursday submitted another notice for bringing the motion against Dhanapal since the first notice was not in the proper format. Sources told DC that since the notice was served well ahead of the 14-day period, it should be taken up for discussion during the Budget Session. The DMK is likely to press for taking up of the notice on the first day of the session.
