Nineteen members of the DMK who attended the session of the Assembly on Monday were evicted en masse after several of them squatted before the Speaker’s podium and raised slogans following heated exchanges with the Ministers and the Chair. The House witnessed noisy scenes for sometime.
After their eviction, Leader of the House O Panneerselvam moved a resolution seeking to suspend the DMK members for two days charging that they had disrupted the proceedings of the House and uttered inauspicious words.
Since the DMK MLAs had been evicted for the third time in the current session, it was likely that only a handful of DMK members, including the party chief M Karunanidhi, could now attend the session from April 10.
Trouble began when PWD Minister KV Ramalingam began his reply to a call attention motion raised by members of many political parties regarding the construction works across Pennaiyar river by Karnataka. He said the DMK had given up the rights of Tamil Nadu with regard to Cauvery and Mullaiperiyar Dam issues.
This triggered protests from the DMK members and DMK deputy leader Durai Murugan asked Ramalingam to list the rights given up by DMK regime. Minister KP Munusamy came to the aid of his colleague, which was opposed by DMK members.
Soon after, Leader of the House, O Panneerselvam, gave a detailed reply stating that the DMK, despite being in power, had failed to protect the rights of Tamil Nadu with regard to Mullaiperiyar and Cauvery disputes. When Durai Murugan rose to respond, the Speaker asked him to complete his reply within a minute as demands for grants for two more departments had to be taken up.
Durai Murugan and his colleagues objected to this. Many DMK MLAs started moving towards the well and squatted in front of the Speaker’s podium and raised slogans. Speaker P Dhanapal said though he had given opportunity to Durai Murugan, he did not use it properly. As his appeal to the DMK members to resume their seats proved futile, he called in Marshalls to evict them en masse. The DMK MLAs who were sitting in front of the Speaker’s podium were removed physically. Later, DMK Treasurer M K Stalin too squatted on the floor. He too was evicted physically.