Shanmughasundaram.JChennai: The final day of the budget session of Tamil Nadu assembly turned out to be tumultuous as DMK legislators were bundled out en masse after a confrontation with TVK members over chief minister C Joseph Vijay’s remarks on former chief ministers M Karunanidhi and M K Stalin.The ruckus broke out after Speaker J C D Prabhakar refused to expunge Vijay’s remarks related to Sarkaria Commission and MISA arrest of Stalin, prompting DMK members to protest in the well of the House. As DMK MLAs refused to return to their seats, Speaker ordered marshals to remove them. Neither Vijay nor leader of opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin were in the assembly during the chaos.It all started with DMK whip E V Velu accusing Vijay of making baseless allegations and bringing up pending cases in the assembly during the reply to demand for grants. This went against the traditions of the House, he said.On the Sarkaria Commission report, Velu said late chief minister M G Ramachandran was the principal complainant, but later told the commission that he had “no idea whatsoever” about the complaint and that it had been drafted by a party functionary, Kannan from Salem. “In the conclusion, Sarkaria made it clear that there was no prima facie case in all the 28 allegations,” Velu said.Ministers Aadhav Arjuna and R Nirmalkumar defended Vijay’s remarks and alleged that the DMK was “root of corruption.”Former DMK minister Govi Chezhiaan questioned whether CM could cite ED dossiers as evidence when the cases were pending before courts and whether the Sarkaria Commission could be selectively used for political gains when it had not found anyone guilty of corruption. He also questioned Vijay for referring to late leaders such as Murasoli Maran.The situation turned chaotic after the Speaker said that there was “no need to expunge CM’s remarks.” He said CM’s speech was within the rules of the assembly.Protesting the decision, DMK MLAs sat in the well of the House and raised slogans for about 45 mts. When DMK members refused to return to their seats Prabhakar directed the marshals to remove them from the assembly. Subsequently, marshals physically removed several MLAs while others walked out.In between, Speaker also cautioned minister Aadhav Arjuna for his remarks that they would raise from the seats to confront DMK members. Later in the day, Chezhiaan moved a privilege motion against Vijay, accusing him of making “baseless allegations” and citing reports connected to cases pending before courts.
