The pandemonium in the Tamil Nadu Assembly during the trust vote was appalling and shameful, reducing the exercise to a farce (“Palaniswami wins trust vote after violence by DMK MLAs”, Feb.19). Throwing decorum to the wind, the members have ensured that the unsavoury incidents mark yet another low in our democracy. The events are a sad and grim pointer to the fact that the informative/thought-stimulating debates of yesteryear have now given way to increasing use of lung and and muscle power to settle scores. There needs to be an amendment to the Representation of the People Act to bring in a model code of conduct for our legislative bodies.
B. Suresh Kumar,
Coimbatore
The expulsion of members by physically removing them from the floor of the Assembly and conducting a trust vote in a hurry amounts to a backdoor bailout of the AIADMK faction that has the backing of V.K. Sasikala. If the Speaker was non-partisan, he would have allowed the situation to cool especially after the near hostage-like situation MLAs faced while at a resort off Chennai. Foisting a new leadership on the party cadre will only sow the seeds of chaos in Tamil Nadu.
S. Vasudevan,
Secunderabad
Given the background to the run-up to the vote of confidence, it would have been appropriate had the Speaker gone in for a secret ballot. It would have ensured that the real spirit of democracy was preserved. Carrying out a confidence vote after expelling the opposition in toto is against all canons of democracy.
S.V. Venkatakrishnan,
Bengaluru
