Parliamentarians of the two main political parties from Tamil Nadu disrupted President Pranab Mukherjee’s maiden speech in the House, raising slogans on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue.
Members from AIADMK and DMK started to shout slogans, apparently referring to the alleged killing of LTTE chief Prabhakaran’s twelve-year-old son Balachandran by Lankan troops - as soon as the President began his address at the start of the budget session. The President, however ignored it, and continued.
In his speech, President Mukherjee while detailing the ties with Lanka said “We are making efforts in our engagement with Lanka, including efforts to resettle and rehabilitate the internally displaced persons there, and to ensure a life of peace, dignity and equality for the Tamils in Lanka,” he said. The budget session is likely to witness stormy scenes with TN parties expected to ask for discussions on the topic of Lanka’s delay in reaching a political settlement on Tamils issue.