CHENNAI: The State Assembly on Thursday witnessed tense moments for some time after Deputy Leader of the Opposition R Mohanraj made a remark on former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa without naming her, as a rebuttal to the remark made by AIADMK member Kadambur Raju during the discussion on the motion of thanks to the Governor’s address.
In the end, all DMDK MLAs were evicted en masse and suspended for the rest of the ongoing session of the House. Besides, the Speaker referred a breach of privilege issue against DMDK Whip V C Chandirakumar, L Venkatesan and a few others, to the Privileges Committee. It all began when AIADMK member Kadambur Raju said that a couple of persons who had gotten themselves elected to the Assembly by cheating people don’t turn up for the House proceedings.
“One of them is an aged person and the other a citizen. Citizen means Kudimagan,” he said. The DMDK MLAs took exception to this remark and requested the Speaker to expunge the remark, which was declined. When DMDK floor leader R Mohanraj was called to speak on the discussion on the motion of thanks to the Governor’s address, he made a remark hinting at former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. Shocked by this, all AIADMK MLAs including Chief Minister O Panneerselvam were on their feet and demanded action against Mohanraj. Chandirakumar, Venkatesan and a few others rushed to the Speaker’s podium and argued with him. Meanwhile, almost all DMDK MLAs thronged near the podium. After a couple of warnings, the Speaker ordered eviction of Mohanraj. But the DMDK MLAs surrounded Mohanraj to resist his eviction and there was a scuffle between them and the watch and ward staff.
In the melee, the podium was slightly damaged, and papers related to the House proceedings were seen strewn around the podium.
Cop injured while evicting Members
Vijayan, a Special Sub-Inspector attached to New Washermenpet police station, lodged a complaint with the Fort Police that he was assaulted by two unidentified persons while evicting the DMDK MLAs from the House. He is now undergoing treatment at the GH.