On a day of swift and sudden developments, DMK working president and Leader of the Opposition M.K. Stalin emerged from the House with his shirt open and claimed it had been torn, even as several of his party MLAs were evicted by the Speaker.
Alighting dramatically from his car outside the Assembly premises, Mr. Stalin made gestures to show journalists how his shirt was torn in the melee. “We may have done some mistake knowingly or unknowingly. I apologised to the Speaker and pleaded with him to conduct secret voting. But he did not budge.”
“We refused to accept his position and staged a dharna for an hour. After that the Speaker adjourned the House. But around 1.30 p.m., over 500 policemen entered the House and evicted us. They harassed and beat us. The Assistant Commissioner of Police gave instructions to bundle us out from the House,” Mr. Stalin alleged, flanked by his party MLAs, including the DMK Deputy Floor Leader.
“We are now proceeding to the Raj Bhavan,” Mr. Stalin said, before he left the Assembly premises.
He reached the Raj Bhavan around 3.30 p.m. and submitted a memorandum to Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao.
“The agenda of Speaker (P. Dhanapal) is to go ahead with voting and announce that the Chief Minister has succeeded in getting the confidence of the House, in the absence of the DMK members. This is totally foul play and unconstitutional,” it said.
“Therefore, we request the Governor to restore democratic values and order postponement of the Assembly session for conducting secret voting on the Confidence Motion,” the representation said.
While Mr. Stalin met the Governor, other DMK MLAs and party cadre sat on a dharna and blocked the Sardar Patel Road outside Raj Bhavan and sat on a dharna protesting the alleged attack on Mr. Stalin in the Assembly premises. Around 3.50 p.m., DMK Rajya Sabha MPs Kanimozhi and Tiruchi Siva also reached Raj Bhavan. and were seen yanking at the gates to gain entry. A minute later they were allowed inside. Mr. Stalin, still in his torn shirt, met the Governor and submitted a representation.
Around 3.45 p.m, Mr. Stalin left Raj Bhavan and headed towards Marina.
Later speaking to reporters, party spokesperson T.K.S. Elangovan said they apprised the Governor of what transpired in the Assembly. "We have told him how the opposition leaders were attacked in the Assembly, more than 30 of our MLAs sustained injuries. We asked him to take necessary action". They submitted a memorandum to the Governor seeking a secret vote in the Assembly.
At the Marina, Mr. Stalin later arrived near the Gandhi Statue in the Marina beach front and staged a protest near the Gandhi Statue, alleging foul play by the AIADMK before being arrested along with other MLAs by the police. . Soon after, he and his party MLAs were arrested.
Talking to reporters, the DML leader said, “The police forces entered the Assembly Hall, unleashed violence against MLAs and evicted us. They claim to have succeeded in getting the confidence of the House. This is against the constitutional values. We will continue the protest in a peaceful manner.”
After Mr.Stalin was arrested, a group of DMK cadre tried to hoist the DMK flag near Gandhi Statue. But the police prevented them from hoisting the flag. Former Chennai Mayor and Saidapet MLA Ma.Subramanian said senior police officers attacked him and other MLAs, naming a few of the officials involved
( With inputs from T.K. Rohit )
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