AIADMK MLA Thangatamilselvan from Andipatti, who had staged walkouts from the Assembly on multiple occasions during the past one month protesting against the decisions of the Speaker, found himself in the Chair briefly on Tuesday in the absence of Speaker P. Dhanapal and Deputy Speaker Pollachi V. Jayaraman.
Even as he checked out the bell and other items placed before the Chair, Mr. Thangatamilselvan didn’t fail to remind Congress MLA V.S. Kalimuthu (Dharapuram) of the time left for other members to speak on the demand for grants.
Earlier, members of the ruling AIADMK, besides the DMK and Congress members, were surprised to see Mr. Thangatamilselvan in the Chair. While in the Chair, the Andipatti MLA also expunged certain words used by the Congress MLA as urged by Leader of the House K.A. Sengottaiyan.
However, later in the day, when he wanted certain words used by DMK MLA S. Stalin Kumar to be expunged, Speaker P. Dhanapal refused to oblige.
Eyebrows were raised earlier in the day too when Mr. Thangatamilselvan, a well-known supporter of “sidelined” AIADMK deputy general secretary T.T.V. Dhinakaran, was seen sitting next to Housing Minister Udumalai K. Radhakrishnan and Forest Minister Dindigul C. Srinivasan in the front row and having a friendly discussion.
The Andipatti MLA was also seen chatting with DMK deputy floor leader Duraimurugan and DMK MLAs P.K. Sekar Babu (Harbour) and S. Regupathy (Thirumayam) in the Assembly lobby.
