DMK members go on a rampage in House during trust vote,Speaker gheroed, heckled
Chennai/ Hyderabad, Feb.18: Unprecedented and violent political drama was witnessed in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on the occasion of trust vote of the two-day old E. Palaniswami (EPS) government on Saturday what with the Opposition DMK members going on a rampage after Speaker P. Dhanpal rejected their demand for a secret ballot.
During the mayhem that unfolded in the House, the DMK members lay siege to the Well of the Assembly, broke chairs, threw books, torn papers, uprooted the mike on the Speaker's table and chanted slogans demanding secret ballot. What is more despite the Speaker's repeated appeals to maintain decency and decorum in the House, the DKM members instead heckled, dragged and pushed him out of his seat. The marshals had to rushed to the rescue of the Speaker and escorted him out of the House, which was adjourned till 1 p.mwithout taking up the vote of confidence.
Since morning a tense atmosphere prevailed in and around the Tamilnadu Assembly as people at large waited with bated breadth to know whether EPS, the proxy of convicted and jailed Sasikala Natrajan, popularly being called Chinnamma, would emerge victorious much to the chagrin and dislike of those who had voted Amma Jayalalitha to power in 2016 or her loyalist and protégé O. Panneer selvam ( OPS), despite he not having number of MLAs on his side, would succeed.
Keeping in view the state-wide attention on the crucial trust vote and the proposed Jallikattu like mass dharna on Marina Beach by anti-EPS supporters, the people made elaborate security arrangements to nip in in the bud any untoward incident. The media was also arred from live coverage of the proceedings within in the House, though they were also made to huddle in a media briefing room with the audio shut off. The DMK members led by their leader M K Satalin ( total strength 88 barring M. Karunanidhi who could not attend the special session due to his ill health) came to the House after deciding to vote against the trust motion. Likewise the Congress with a strength of eight members also trooped in to vote against the confidence motion.
The "rebel" AIADMK leader and former Chief Minister O Paneerselvam (OPS) having a support of just 11 MLAs to that of EPS having a support of 122 members arrived with confidence and having something up his sleeve to turn the tables against EPS. The Speaker P Dhanpal soon after the House assembled at 11 a.m called the Chief Minister EPS to move the trust motion, which was done accordingly. Even before the process of voting could be taken up, the Opposition leader of the DMK Stalin insisted that he be allowed to speak and also to hear the version of OPS and others. He alleged that the trust vote be a farce if the MLAs who allegedly locked up in a resort by the EPS group are not heard.
After indicating that the counting of members would be taken up by segment wise and announced that each segment would consist of 38 members, the Speaker was about to commence the process of voting when the DMK members created a ruckus insisting that the voting should be by secret ballot. In a surprise move and deviating from the normal practice, the Speaker allowed Stalin, Pandiarajan ( former Minister and AIADMK member who switched loyalty to OPS camp ) and even OPS to speak. In their speech all of them accused the EPS group of virtually keeping all the MLAs locked up in a resort and thus [prevented from taking a decision according to their free will and conscience. They insisted that the voting should be by secret ballot. The Speaker however rejected their plea and declared that no one can go against his directive and decision.
This sparked off trouble what with the DMK members rushing into the well of the House. Raising slogans and climbing on to the benches, some members even broke the chairs and tore books and papers and flung it at the Speaker. All hell broke out and amdist the ruckus some official staff also sustained injuries. Some DMK members rushed and surrounded the hapless Speaker. His mike was broken, he was heckled and pushed out of the his seat. Even as he was being escorted out by the marshals, two DMK members K. Selvam and Raghunanthan even occupied the Speaker's chair. Amidst the utter chaos and ruckus, the House was adjourned till 1 p.m.
Later the Speaker expressed his pain and anguish over the horrible drama that unfolded in the House. He said his shirt was torn and he was pushed. " Where do I go and explain the torture meted out to me", he lamented.
When the House was reconvened after one hour recess at 1 p.m, the high voltage drama did not subside as the Speaker has expelled all the DMK members from the House and asked to leave. When they did not move out, the Marshals came and bodily lifted them out and the unrelenting DMK members began vociferously protesting and raised slogans outside the House forcing the Speaker to adjourn the House till 3 p.m