DMK legislators see red as AIADMK members heap praise on Sasikala

There was nothing wrong in legislators praising their leaders, says Speaker

Speaker P. Dhanapal

Long adulatory references made by AIADMK legislators to their party general secretary V.K. Sasikala in their speeches became a topic of debate yet again on Monday. While the opposition DMK members objected to it and claimed they wouldn’t indulge in such acts, Speaker P. Dhanapal and Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam justified the actions of the AIADMK members.

The issue came up during the Question Hour when Co-operation Minister Sellur K. Raju, while answering a query, went on to make a lengthy adulatory reference to Ms. Sasikala and hailed her as the “blessing left behind by the late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.”

DMK legislators led by Leader of the Opposition M.K. Stalin and party Deputy Floor Leader Durai Murugan objected to it and questioned whether the Minister’s response was indeed the answer to the query raised in the House. “Is this appropriate? Is this the answer to the question? This is wrong as per tradition,” Mr. Stalin said.

However, Speaker P. Dhanapal reiterated (what he said last week) that legislators were free to praise their respective leaders, which had “been the tradition and was in practice”. “They (AIADMK) are praising their leader and you can also praise your leader,” the Speaker said.

But Mr. Stalin refused to accept it and said the DMK would not do that. At this point, Chief Minister Panneerselvam rose and contended that only allegations cannot be raised during the Question Hour and added, “If you want to praise, do it. Else, you need not.”

The Chief Minister went on to say that even during the previous DMK regime, praises were heaped on persons who were not members of the House. To this, Mr. Stalin retorted: “I accept we have done it too. But, do you have to continue a mistake just because we did it?”

The issue was finally settled by the Speaker, who maintained that there was nothing wrong in legislators praising their leaders. Later, AIADMK member S. Selvamohandos Pandian (Tenkasi), whose question was answered by the Minister, continued his praise for Ms. Sasikala. Another AIADMK MLA, I.S. Inbadurai (Radhapuram), referred to Ms. Sasikala as the “new Puratchi Thalaivi. ”