DMK boycotts proceedings, citing ‘treatment’ in Assembly

Trouble began as soon as the session started when the Opposition leader MK Stalin sought Speaker Dhanapal to issue an order on the remarks made by Handloom Minister Sellur K Raju on Thursday over the murder of the Tiruvarur DMK district secretary.  To this, the Speaker replied that he would issue the order, but not at the beginning of the session. Stalin countered the Speaker stating that he did not fulfil similar promises over statements by AIADMK MLAs Rajan Chellappa and Thennarasu. Stalin added that the Opposition would be forced to boycott the session if the order was not issued immediately. 

When Dhanapal said that they could not force the Chair and that what they were doing was not in good taste, all the Opposition MLAs led by Stalin trooped out of the hall. Speaking to the media outside the House, Stalin said, “The speaker is partial in his actions and supports only AIADMK MLAs. He never gives cognisance to what DMK MLAs say.” Meanwhile, inside the House, Dhanapal said that he was not being respected as a Speaker. “DMK MLAs forcing me to act in a specific way is not right” he said and added that there were many occasions when DMK MLAs acted in a disrespectful manner. Stating that he was being impartial as advised by Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, he said “DMK MLAs never allowed the Assembly to function properly.” He added: “If the same trend continues, I will take action.”

After Paneerselvam completed his 110-minute speech, Dhanapal said that there was no need to expunge the remarks made by Cooperation minister Sellur K Raju as he was only referring to the law and order situation in the state during the DMK regime. Similarly, there was also no need to expunge KS Thennarasu’s statement which was only the DMK’s earlier statements to the press. Likewise, Rajan Chellappa’s reference to the Sarkaria Commission also need not be expunged as the matter had been discussed in the assembly several times earlier, he concluded.

Meanwhile,  O Panneerselvam, in his reply, said that work was afoot to increase tax revenue and reduce expenditure. He said that though revenue increased in 2011-12 and 2012-13, the following years recorded deficits due to the falling price of petroleum products. An additional factor was the global recession which affected the the last two financial years, he added.