DMK members on Monday staged a walkout from the Assembly following a war of words with Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and his Cabinet colleagues over the conduct of recruitment examinations only in Hindi and English by the Postal Department.
While DMK MLA Thangam Thennarasu, who raised the issue, demanded a resolution urging the Centre to conduct the examination in all Indian languages, including Tamil, the Chief Minister said the issue could be raised in both Houses of Parliament by members of both the DMK and the AIADMK, since they both shared the same view.
“Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam, in his reply, had clearly said that depending on the response from the Centre, we can take a good decision in our Assembly. Will you not wait till such time [as the Centre gives its response]?” he asked.
If the DMK members had come to the House with a plan to stage a walkout, then the government cannot do anything about it, the CM quipped.
Stating that the CM had, through his comments, insulted the feelings of the members of his party, DMK Deputy Leader in the House Durai Murugan led his party MLAs on a walkout. They later returned to participate in the other proceedings of the House.
Recalling the DMK’s past allegation that even though the AIADMK had 37 MPs in the Lok Sabha, it had failed to raise issues affecting Tamil Nadu, the CM said the same charge could now be levelled against the DMK, since it now had 37 members. “People have elected [you] to find solutions to issues. So, you join us and raise your voice in Parliament. We are 100 times more concerned about the problem [than you]. We will continue to fight till a solution is found,” Mr. Palaniswami said.
