Chennai: The opposition AIADMK legislators were evicted from the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Monday following tumultuous scenes over some issue they wanted to raise.
Immediately after the Question Hour concluded, Leader of the Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami rose to draw the Chair’s attention to ‘an important issue.’ However, Speaker M Appavu declined his request saying the “matter is sub judice.”
The AIADMK members, who came to the Assembly sporting black badges, demanded that Palaniswami be allowed to raise the issue. They suddenly flashed placards containing the words: “Andha thiyagi yaar? – TASMAC” (who is that martyr – TASMAC). This evoked the ire of the Speaker who initially warned them against taking part in the proceedings with black badges and placards.
However, the unrelenting opposition MLAs raised slogans and continued to stall the proceedings. The Speaker had to call the Assembly Marshals to evict 13 AIADMK lawmakers for disrupting the House.
Appavu announced that as this was the second instance of AIADMK eviction during this Budget session which commenced on March 14, they will be barred from attending the rest of the session till April end.
Chief Minister M K Stalin, who was present in the House, appealed to the Speaker to reconsider his decision and suspend them only for today. Following this, the Speaker announced the AIADMK members would be suspended only for the rest of the session today.
Following this, the remaining AIADMK members staged a walkout in protest. Party senior K A Sengottaiyan whoever remained in the House to speak on a ‘call attention motion’ on the expansion of textile processing industry at Gobichettipalayam in Erode district.
Speaking on the incident, the CM said the AIADMK members held placards inside the House asking who the martyr was. “It’s the cadres of the AIADMK, founded by former Chief Minister M G Ramachandran and nurtured by former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, who are the real martyrs.” He said the present leadership was entangled in various legal cases and it was clear at whose feet they fell.
Speaking to reporters outside the Assembly, Palaniswami said he wanted to raise the question as to why TASMAC, facing action from the Enforcement Directorate, approached the Supreme Court seeking a transfer of ED-related cases to be heard out of the Madras High Court.
Denying the charge, State Law Minister S Regupathy said no irregularities took place in the state-owned enterprise selling Indian-made foreign liquor.
“We can prove in court that no irregularities occurred,” the Minister added.
On the AIADMK allegation that they were not allowed to speak about TASMAC in the House, Regupathy replied, “The case is already in the court. So, it is sub judice.”
