CHENNAI: AIADMK MLAs on Tuesday staged a walkout from the Assembly twice for different reasons.
During the zero hour, Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami led his party colleagues, who were wearing black shirts, in a walkout accusing Speaker M Appavu of not allowing them to raise people’s issues in the House. Since the Speaker had, on Monday, ruled that MLAs would not be allowed to wear any badges inside the House, the AIADMK MLAs came in black shirts.
Later, during the discussion on the demands for grants for the food and cooperation departments, the AIADMK MLAs staged another walkout, demanding time to respond to allegations levelled by DMK MLA P S T Saravanan against the previous AIADMK regime.
During the zero hour, Palaniswami charged that the speeches of AIADMK MLAs on important discussions were being blacked out, which the Speaker denied. After a few minutes of a heated exchange, Leader of the House Duraimurugan said the Speaker would ensure such shortcomings do not recur. However, Palaniswami led his colleagues in another walkout.
Talking to reporters outside the Assembly, Palaniswami accused the Speaker of acting in a biased manner.