DMK leader M. Karunanidhi on Sunday made a strong case for revoking the suspension of the DMDK members from the Tamil Nadu Assembly, saying holding the session of the House without the presence of the members of the main Opposition party was against democratic norms.
Mr. Karunanidhi’s appeal to Assembly Speaker P. Dhanapal assumes significance since the DMK is making overtures to the DMDK led by actor Vijayakant to rope him for an alliance for the 2016 Assembly polls. There is also high expectation among the DMDK legislators and party cadres that Mr. Vijayakant would attend the session, especially when there was a need for his presence to make up for his party MLAs and it was the last session of the AIADMK government.
Mr. Karunanidhi said since the session had been convened to discuss demands for grants for various departments the main Opposition party should be allowed to attend the House. He said the Speaker should be generous and allow the DMDK members to take part in the Assembly session, which has been convened after a long gap.
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As far as the DMDK members were concerned they were suspended from the previous session in the wake of confrontation with the ruling party members. Later six of them were also suspended from attending the second session after their confrontation with the watch and ward staff of the Assembly.