The Tamil Nadu Assembly witnessed a ruckus on Tuesday after the DMK demanded that Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay’s remarks based on ED documents be expunged from the records. DMK MLAs raised slogans in protest, following which several Opposition members were evicted from the House.
As soon as proceedings began, DMK Whip EV Velu referred to Vijay’s statement in the Assembly on Monday and demanded the removal of references to the ED’s allegations of corruption, arguing that they violated the rules and traditions of the House.
Velu also objected to references to the Sarkaria Commission, maintaining that the commission had found that no offences had been established.
He further said that reading out details of cases during the Chief Minister’s reply was against Assembly convention, particularly when the cases were still under investigation.
“Reading out cases is an act that violates tradition. Yesterday, the Chief Minister spoke about MISA and the Sarkaria Commission. Reading out Vigilance cases during the Chief Minister’s reply is a violation of tradition. Comments cannot be made on cases that are under investigation,” Velu said.
Responding to the objections, PWD Minister Aadhav Arjuna accused the DMK of attempting to prevent him from speaking in the Assembly.
He alleged that the DMK expected the ruling party to listen to it but was unwilling to hear opposing views.
“DMK is afraid of me. Whenever I rise to speak on the floor of the House, they stand and oppose me with the intention of stopping me from speaking. The problem with the DMK is that it wants the ruling party to listen to it, but it does not want to listen,” Arjuna said.
Law Minister R Nirmal Kumar defended the Chief Minister’s remarks, citing the Sarkaria Commission report and official ED documents. He also reiterated allegations of corruption against the then DMK government.
Speaker JCD Prabhakar rejected the DMK’s demand, saying there was no need to expunge Vijay’s remarks on the MISA Act from the Assembly records.
“The DMK was not ready to listen for even a minute to CM Vijay’s speech yesterday. CM Vijay mentioned things that had already been raised in the House regarding the MISA Act. So, there is no need to expunge the CM’s remarks on the MISA Act,” the Speaker said.
A day earlier, Chief Minister Vijay had alleged that the ED had accused the DMK of corruption linked to party funds.
Vijay claimed that the ED had referred to former Chief Minister MK Stalin, Tamil Nadu Leader of the Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin and Minister Senthil Balaji in connection with the alleged collection of money in the name of party funds.
He also alleged that the Sarkaria Commission report had accused former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi of abusing his official position as Chief Minister.
(With inputs from agencies)