DMK creates ruckus, gets evicted en masse eviction of its members from the House
Chennai: The Assembly witnessed uproarious scenes on Tuesday over the Ram Rajya Rath Yatra, culminating in the en masse eviction of the DMK members from the House. Ally Congress boycotted the day’s session following DMK members’ eviction, resulting in the proceedings to wind up early in the day.
Immediately after the Question Hour, DMK working president M. K. Stalin raising the issue sought the state government to immediately stop the Rama Rajya Rath Yatra from entering TN as it would “disturb the communal harmony and peace in the state.”
However, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palniswami declined and accused the DMK of trying to gain political mileage over the issue. DMK legislators raised slogans against the AIADMK government and the House plunged into pandemonium for about twenty minutes.
Amidst the din, Thamimun Ansari, MLA from Nagapattinam, rushed to the well of the House and demanded a ban on the Rath Yatra. He returned to his seat after Speaker P. Dhanapal warned him.
After the CM’s reply, DMK members raised slogans and when Stalin said his party was not satisfied with the Chief Minister’s reply, Dhanapal shot back, “if you are not satisfied with the reply, you can register your opposition, which you have already done.” As the DMK MLAs did not budge, he asked Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar to introduce the Tamil Nadu Private Clinical Establishments (Regulation) Amendment Bill, which was done amid the din.
Dhanapal ordered the eviction of the DMK legislators from the Assembly en masse. Congress MLAs who expressed solidarity with their ally, the DMK, in opposing the yatra, staged a walkout led by Congress Legislature Party Leader K. R. Ramasamy and abstained from the House for the rest of the day. Thamimun Ansari too walked out.
Later, Stalin led by his party legislators in staging a sudden road roko in front of the secretariat that housed the TN Assembly and disrupted the traffic. They were all arrested and later let off.
The Congress MLAs too met with similar fate when they rushed to the road to stage an agitation.
