Tamil Nadu Assembly on Friday witnessed acrimonious scenes with arch rivals DMK and AIADMK sparring over a comment by a ruling party MLA in the context of the ongoing controversy involving suspended DMK leader M K Alagiri, prompting Speaker P Dhanapal to order eviction of the opposition party members.
The problem started when AIADMK MLA G V Markandeyan made some critical remarks against DMK and its chief M Karunanidhi on the Alagiri controversy, prompting opposition members to raise objections loudly. Most of them remained standing even as some proceeded towards the Speaker's Chair, shouting remarks.
Initially, the Speaker ordered the eviction of J Anbazhagan, who was standing near the chair and making some remarks, for not heeding his demand to resume his seat. Later, DMK leader Durai Murugan, who was allowed permission to make some points by the Speaker, said the AIADMK MLA had unnecessarily made remarks against DMK and its leader Karunanidhi and wanted them to be expunged.
At this point, Finance Minister O Panneerselvam, also Leader of the House, intervened and justified his colleague's remarks and said he had only recalled what Karunanidhi had revealed in the media about Alagiri. To this, Durai Murugan said he did not expect such a reply from Panneerselvam and said Markandeyan's comments had no connection to the debate on the motion to thank the Governor for his address to the House on Thursday.
Panneerselvam quipped that the "entire country is laughing" at the statements made by Karunanidhi in the context of the controversy surrounding Alagiri, his elder son, which further infuriated the DMK legislators.
Soon, they marched towards the Speaker's chair and his repeated requests to go back to their respective seats failed. He soon ordered the en masse eviction of DMK MLAs, saying some of them even tore copies of Governor's address and "went against the House ethos."
Karunanidhi, representing Thiruvarur in the Assembly, and his younger son M K Stalin (Kolathur) were not present on Friday.
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