Noisy scenes were witnessed in the State Legislative Assembly here on Monday, as members of the ruling AIADMK and its arch rival DMK locked horns yet again over various issues, one of which was whether to mention the name of the Chief Minister in the House.
Speaker P. Dhanapal reiterated in his “verdict” that it was a tradition of the House not to address the sitting Chief Minister by name but by the designation. The DMK and Congress staged a walkout over the issue.
The issue came up during the speech of AIADMK legislator P.M. Narasimhan, who made a reference to the DMK president and former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi by name, to which the DMK MLAs objected. Certain remarks made by the DMK members were expunged by the Speaker.
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After a long din, when the DMK’s Deputy Floor Leader M. Duraimurugan was given a chance to speak, he made certain remarks, which were again expunged by the Speaker. Intervening, Leader of Opposition Mr. Stalin sought to know which House rule prevented members from addressing the Chief Minister by name. As the Speaker did not respond, Mr Stalin led a walkout of his party’s MLAs.
Earlier, when Mr. Duraimurugan replied to the speech by Mr. Narasimhan, who referred to the erstwhile DMK regime (2006-11) as a “minority government”, Mr. Duraimurugan’s remarks were expunged by the Speaker.
Mr. Dhanapal said it was not appropriate to criticise a government which “has come to power with full majority.” The DMK leader said that the Speaker should be beyond political affiliations.
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When the Leader of the House O. Panneerselvam intervened in the issue to say none in the House had the right to criticise the Chair, Mr. Duraimurugan said there were provisions for a party even to move a no-confidence motion against the Speaker.
When the Congress’s Legislative Party Leader K.R. Ramasamy spoke over the issue, the Speaker said he had been maintaining neutrality in his functions. Unsatisfied, the Congress members too staged a walkout over the issue.