The Assembly witnessed a heated exchange between the ruling AIADMK and the DMK on Thursday with senior members questioning each other if their respective parties had the courage to face the elections alone.
During the debate on the Governor’s address, DMK MLA J. Anbazhagan raised the issue of alleged mismanagement of the Chembarambakkam reservoir during the December 2015 floods.
Public Works Minister O. Pannerselvam refuted the charges with an elaborate reply that quoted statistics to support the government’s action. He also took on DMK president M. Karunanidhi for spreading lies on the issue.
Later, Mr. Anbazhagan and Deputy Leader of the DMK Durai Murugan commented that the public would not believe the government irrespective of the length of the reply.
On his feet immediately, Housing Minister R. Vaithilingam said the AIADMK, under the leadership of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, was confident of people’s support and it was the DMK that went “begging” for allies. He also asked if the DMK had the courage to contest the elections alone.
In response, Mr. Durai Murugan asked if the AIADMK was prepared to face the polls without the support of even smaller parties such as the Forward Bloc. Later, gesturing towards the treasury benches, he said that Mr. Pannerselvam had given a long reply posing several questions, which would be answered in June. Rebutting, Minister Natham. R. Viswanathan said the dream of the DMK to come back to power will never be fulfilled.
