Minister Duraimurugan stumbles in Assembly, DyCM and colleagues rush to his aid

CHENNAI: Leader of the House and Minister for Water Resources Duraimurugan, in and out of the hospital of late due to age-related ailments, on Friday stumbled and fell on the floor of the Assembly, momentarily shocking both the treasury and opposition benches.

However, the octogenarian DMK leader, with assistance from Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin and senior minister EV Velu, got back on his feet and returned to his seat, continuing to attend the session.

The incident occurred around 10.30 am when senior DMK minister Duraimurugan stepped out of his seat to speak with a senior bureaucrat waiting near the entry point of the House. As he moved between the Chief Minister’s desk and the Speaker’s podium, he lost balance and fell. He attempted to stand up on his own but was unsteady. On seeing this, Udhayanidhi, who was entering the House at that moment, and Minister

EV Velu rushed to help the Leader of the House.

Everyone in the Assembly was momentarily stunned, and proceedings came to a brief halt owing to the incident. However, the senior minister signalled that he was fine, had a quick conversation with the bureaucrat, and returned to his seat.

A few minutes later, Chief Minister M K Stalin entered the House and enquired about the incident and checked whether Duraimurugan was fine. The minister assured him he was fine and later went on to respond to a call attention motion raised by A Venkatesan of the Sholavandan constituency regarding the Thenur water canal, though sitting in his chair.

In his response, Duraimurugan stated that the department had prepared a detailed project report for desilting the canal at an estimated cost of Rs 29.60 crore. The project would be taken up once it receives government approval.