A motion of no confidence, seeking to remove P. Dhanapal as the Speaker of the State Legislative Assembly, moved by the DMK, was defeated on Thursday.
While 97 members from the DMK, the Congress and the IUML supported the motion, 121 AIADMK members and Mylapore MLA R. Natraj (who had last month voted against the government) voted against the motion.
This was only the second time the Tamil Nadu Assembly was witnessing a vote on a motion of no confidence against the Speaker.
The last such event was in 1972 when the DMK government voted out Speaker K.A. Mathiazhagan, who had switched loyalties to the then expelled DMK leader M.G. Ramachandran.
Mr. Panneerselvam and 10 legislators of his camp were not present in the House during the voting. DMK president M Karunanidhi, who is not keeping well, was the other absentee.
Soon after question hour, the Speaker allowed the Leader of the Opposition M.K. Stalin to move the motion and sought to know whether it should be taken up. All the members of DMK, the Congress and the IUML stood up in support — much beyond the required number of 35 MLAs.
To facilitate the voting, Mr. Dhanapal left the House and Deputy Speaker Pollachi V. Jayaraman conducted the voting.
Division voting adopted
As the voice vote was opposed by the opposition parties, the Deputy Speaker went for division voting with all members in the House physically standing up and confirming whether they were for or against the resolution.
Soon after the motion was defeated, Speaker Dhanapal resumed his chair and thanked all those who voted against the motion. He assured that he would continue to remain neutral in discharging his duties as the Speaker.
Time for Tirukkural
During the customary reading of Tirukkural before the House convened, Mr. Dhanapal read out a verse from the chapter about possession of patience: “ Agazhvarai thaangum nilam pola thammai igazhvaarai poruthal thalai” (As earth bears up the men who delve into her breast, To bear with scornful men of virtues is the best – G.U. Pope translation).
He explained that despite various obstructions that he had faced [in conducting the House], he had been patient. It was not difficult for those in the House to understand the import of the kural , he added.
