CHENNAI: Upset over Tamil Nadu assembly’s proceedings being disrupted by repeated verbal clashes between treasury and opposition benches, DMDK legislator Premallatha Vijayakanth on Thursday wondered whether the House was turning into a “fight club.” Former chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami also expressed concern over the loss of the valuable time of the assembly.The assembly on Thursday witnessed heated exchanges between the ruling benches and the opposition, particularly the DMK, during the debate on the demands for grants of the social justice department. Intervening in the debate, Premallatha said members spent several hours preparing to raise issues concerning their constituencies and the people (“not even preparing so hard for exams”) but were often denied the opportunity or time to make meaningful interventions. Instead, debates were turning into exchanges of words between the treasury and opposition benches, she said.“People are watching,” she said, adding that people from her constituency had expressed disappointment over the proceedings in the past few days. “Is this an assembly or a fight club?” she asked. (Ithu satta mantrama, illai sandai mantrama?), she askedSpeaking to reporters outside the assembly later, Premallatha said she had urged speaker J C D Prabhakar not to encourage PWD minister Aadhav Arjuna to intervene unnecessarily and divert the debate. The DMDK leader said she was among the 13 legislators to participate in the debate on demand for grants on social justice, minorities welfare and backward classes, but wondered whether she would get ample time to speak.“I requested the speaker not to encourage the PWD minister to speak unnecessarily. I even told the minister in person,” she said.Premallatha said the debate remained on track until the minister intervened. She said she had urged the speaker to ensure that such interventions did not derail discussions on the demands for grants of the department concerned.Palaniswami endorsed her concerns, asking whether the lengthy proceedings were resulting in anything useful for the people.“A 10-hour session is going on, but what useful discussion has taken place for the people? There are no useful opinions or ideas discussed in the 10 hours of the session. Nothing,” Palaniswami said and noted that it was already 2 pm and just one legislator finished talking.He said people were watching the proceedings of the House, which was the ultimate forum for framing policies, and urged the speaker to ensure that members who came prepared with useful, people-centric ideas were given adequate time to speak.The speaker assured the members that their concerns would be taken into consideration and said he would take an appropriate decision.Earlier, the speaker recalled former chief minister M Karunanidhi’s observation that legislators should speak on issues that were fruitful for all and refrain from comments that led to unnecessary debates without benefiting anyone. He appealed to the members to follow the advice to ensure smooth conduct of the House and maintain its dignity.
