Jayalalithaa’s last moments in the Assembly are something legislators are unlikely to forget anytime soon.
When she was leaving the House on September 2, she was booed by a few DMK MLAs.
The scenes unfolded on the final day of the Assembly session when Jayalalithaa and Leader of Opposition M.K. Stalin indulged in a war of words over comments made by her earlier in the day.
The DMK MLAs protested after the Speaker refused to expunge her remarks, even as the then Finance Minister, O. Paneerselvam, was replying. At one point, Speaker P. Dhanapal asked Mr. Paneerselvam to take his seat so that he could address the DMK MLAs. But Jayalalithaa egged on the Finance Minister to keep speaking despite the ruckus. She looked unperturbed at the protests by the DMK legislators.
As she had done during many days during the Assembly session, Jayalalithaa rose to leave the House. When she neared the exit, some DMK MLAs started booing her.
In fact, the whole Assembly session turned out to be a tumultuous one, marked by many verbal duels between the AIADMK and the DMK. As many as 79 DMK MLAs were suspended from the House on August 17, which the DMK claimed was to prevent them from participating in the debate for the demand for grants of the police department Jayalalithaa was set to present on August 22.
During one of the debates in the last Assembly session — one that DMK MLA T.R.B. Raaja is unlikely to forget — he indulged in a war of words with Jayalalithaa alleging that investors were leaving the State. She addressed him, “My dear young man” as MLAs looked on in amusement.
When Mr. Raaja was persisting with his statements on investments, Jayalalithaa said “My dear young man, I fully got what you were trying to convey. You are trying to play with words. That won’t work with me.”
