CHENNAI: Even as a delegation of DMK Rajya Sabha Members urged the Governor (in-charge) Ch Vidyasagar Rao to “nullify the entire proceedings” relating to the trust vote in the Assembly on Saturday, party working president M K Stalin on Sunday announced a statewide protest on February 22 against the way the entire proceedings were conducted.
A delegation, including TKS Elangovan, ‘Tiruchy’ N Siva and RS Bharathi, visited the Raj Bhavan on Sunday and submitted a memorandum on behalf of Stalin, who is also the Leader of the Opposition. The memorandum alleged that the Speaker conducted the proceedings with a pre-conceived design, ignoring a rule stating if the House was adjourned following the introduction of a motion, the said motion lapsed. The DMK leaders accused the Speaker of shepherding the motion in an ‘unconstitutional’ and ‘highly undemocratic’ manner. Appealing to the Governor to weigh the proceedings in in the light of Speaker’s announcement in the absence of opposition legislators, the DMK urged him to “nullify the entire proceedings with a view to protecting the spirit of democracy and the Constitution.”
Hunger strike
Protesting the ‘anti-democratic’ act of assaulting and forcibly removing the main opposition party members, the DMK working president announced a fast across the State on February 22 between 9 am and 5 pm. Stalin said he would preside over the fast in Tiruchy.
Legal recourse
The Leader of the Opposition, after chairing a meeting of his party MLAs, said the party would resort to legal recourse to nullify the trust vote. Meanwhile, he disapproved of the conduct of two MLAs - B Ranganathan and KK Selvam - for occupying the Chair of the Speaker. He added that the party had sought an appointment with the President to represent their grievances.
DMK blamed for ruckus
Meanwhile, AIADMK MP A Navaneethakrishnan blamed the DMK for orchestrating the entire mayhem with an intention to disrespect the party in power.
“DMK entered the House with a conspiracy to bring the Assembly proceedings to a halt by creating a ruckus,” he said, rejecting claims that the resolution passed was unconstitutional.
CM, rebels meet Rao
Even as the opposition was seething against the way ‘Edappadi’ Palanisamy managed to scrape through the floor test, the Chief Minister and party elders made a ‘courtesy call’ on Governor. Senior cabinet ministers too were present during the meeting, which lasted 20 minutes.
Later, leaders from the rebel faction, including O Pannerselvam, K Pandiarajan and S Semmalai, rushed to the Raj Bhavan with complaints against the way the trust voting was conducted.
“We urged the Governor to declare the trust vote null and void as the entire vote of confidence motion took place under violent and chaotic circumstances,” Pandiarajan said. The rebel team urged the Governor not to ratify the motion.