A reference made by DMK member L. Sambath against Lt. Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan in the Puducherry Assembly on August 23 led to heated exchanges between the DMK and the BJP members.
The DMK MLAs staged a walk-out and complained to Speaker R. Selvam that Minister for Civil Supplies A. K. Sai J. Saravanan Kumar (BJP) had tried to prevent them from raising issues. Two Congress MLAs also joined the DMK members in the walk-out.
Sparks flew when Mr. Sambath alleged that the Lt. Governor was acting as a “super Chief Minister”. He was speaking during a debate on a motion of thanks to the Lt. Governor for having addressed the Assembly.
Mr. Sambath alleged that the BJP government at the Centre had betrayed the voters as nothing happened after the National Democratic Alliance came to power in Puducherry in 2021. “The Centre had not allocated adequate funds, and the Lt. Governor was acting as a “super Chief Minister”, he said.
Mr. Kumar questioned the DMK member for making such remarks and asked the Chair to expunge them. Independent legislator M. Sivasankar, a supporter of the BJP in the House, said the DMK had no right to talk about governance after having aligned itself with the Congress. “It should have questioned the previous Congress government about its non-performance,” he added.
Minister for Home A. Namassivayam (BJP) and Minister for Public Works K. Lakshminarayanan (AINRC) also criticised the DMK member for his remarks.
After entering into an argument with the BJP MLAs, Leader of the Opposition and DMK convener R. Siva led his party MLAs out. He complained to Mr. Selvam about Mr. Kumar having interrupted the DMK members during the debate.
Even during the question hour, the DMK and the BJP members clashed over the naming of a housing scheme.
