The Opposition parties, led by DMK working president M.K. Stalin, staged a walkout from the Assembly on Monday, in protest against Speaker P. Dhanapal’s decision not to allow a debate on the actions of Governor Banwarilal Purohit.
When Mr. Stalin sought to raise some issues regarding the Governor’s actions, the Speaker refused to grant permission for the same, on the grounds that the House rules did not permit any debate on the President or the Governor.
However, Mr. Stalin referred to the proceedings of the House during the 1990s, when the Speaker not only relaxed the House rules and allowed a debate on the then Governor [M. Channa Reddy], but also passed a resolution urging the Centre to recall the Governor. Stating that Tamil Nadu had been at the forefront of protecting State autonomy, he said the actions of the Governor [of touring the State and holding meetings with officials] were to be debated.
ADVERTISEMENT
Armed with Assembly records and government gazette notifications, the Speaker said Mr. Stalin was referring to an incident in the House in 1995, but that the Committee on Rules had, in 1999, made a correction to the effect that the rules cannot be relaxed to hold a debate on the President or the Governor. “In fact, the revised rules were also notified in the gazette,” the Speaker noted.
Even as the Opposition members were on their feet, Mr. Dhanapal stood his ground.
Mr. Stalin then led his party MLAs on a walkout, alleging that the State’s autonomy was not being protected.
ADVERTISEMENT
Congress Legislative Party leader K.R. Ramasamy and his party MLAs followed suit, and were joined by Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) legislator K.A.M. Muhammed Abubacker (Kadayanallur). AIADMK MLA M. Thamimun Ansari (Nagapattinam) also sought to speak on this issue, but was denied permission to do so.
Later, all the legislators of the Opposition parties returned to the House and took part in the rest of the Assembly proceedings.