CHENNAI: DMK treasurer M.K. Stalin on Thursday held a dharna opposite to one of the Assembly entrances, condemning the government for not allowing him to enter the room of the leader of Opposition. When he came to the Assembly, the marshals did not allow him citing Speaker P. Dhanapal’s ruling suspending the DMK MLAs on August 17. But, Stalin asked them to allow him to go to the room of leader of Opposition. But, the marshals refused this plea too.
Stalin and other MLAs sat opposite gate four of the Assembly and held a dharna, shouting slogans against the Speaker. After some time, Stalin asked the MLAs not to raise slogans and they sat silently till the Assembly proceedings. Stalin, speaking to reporters, said a resolution had been passed in the Assembly that the DMK members would be barred from House proceedings for a week. But, the DMK MLAs are not allowed to use the library, rooms of officials and the office of the Leader of the Opposition, he complained. Describing the action as ‘autocratic’, he said the DMK members were holding a dharna condemning it.
The DMK is participating in all the Assembly debates and using the opportunities given to it. The DMK had not planned to boycott the Assembly or stage walkouts or create clashes, he said. He also demanded that the Assembly proceedings be telecast live and said it would show to the people which party is committing mistakes. Earlier, the nine DMK MLAs who were not suspended were also stopped by the marshals and they too held a dharna for some time. Finally, they were allowed to enter the Assembly. When the House proceedings began, the DMK members, besides the Congress and IUML MLAs appealed to the Speaker to revoke the suspension. When the Speaker rejected their plea, they walked out of the House.
Parties condemn suspension: People’s Welfare Alliance constituents CPI (M) and VCK on Thursday condemned the en masse suspension of the DMK MLAs including Leader of Opposition MK Stalin from the Assembly for a week and demanded the Speaker to revoke the suspension.
CPI (M) state secretary G. Ramakrishnan, in a separate statement, said that en masse suspension of the DMK members are completely unacceptable. VCK president Thol. Thirumavalavan said that steps should be taken to live telecast the Assembly proceedings like in Parliament is the need of the hour. “It will help quality of the debate in the Assembly,” he said, adding that when the state’s river sharing right has been denied, it is time to show unity of the political parties but enmasse suspension of the Opposition party would only help Karnataka.
DMK members insulting me, says Speaker:
Speaker P. Dhanapal on Thursday said the DMK members made comments disrespecting him, mocking at him when he advised them and did not respect his words. When members of Congress and IUML requested the Speaker to revoke his decision of suspending the DMK MLAs, he said the members were watching the proceedings and they know what was happening. The members knew the troubles the DMK members were causing. “When a DMK member is allotted 20 minutes to speak, they are taking one hour or one and half hour. They make an issue of everything. But, three AIADMK members complete their speech in one hour.
When I advise them, they make fun of me, besides criticising the AIADMK members and making disrespectful remarks on Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa. The DMK members come to the Assembly with an intention to cause trouble. Leader of Opposition M.K. Stalin said he was respecting the Assembly rules and expressed apology. But, the DMK members were not listening to him, Dhanapal said. The Speaker said he was facing numerous problems, but the DMK members are not co-operating and rejected pleas to revoke his decision.
