CM Jayalalithaa and Stalin engage in war of words in Tamil Nadu Assembly

The Tamil Nadu Assembly on Friday witnessed chaotic scenes, unprecedented in recent times, with Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and Leader of Opposition MK Stalin engaging in a war of words over housing facilities for the police personnel. The DMK members eventually staged a walkout after a heated exchange with Speaker P Dhanapal and tore up copies of a bill.

A furore followed the verbal duel between the two leaders as the DMK members stood up and raised slogans against the ruling party and Speaker P Dhanapal for well over an hour. The AIADMK members also shouted back for a while.

The DMK MLAs stopped shouting when an amendment bill, providing for indirect election for the posts of chairpersons in the urban local bodies, was taken up for voting as the party and its allies, including the Congress and the IUML, strongly opposed it.

After the DMK's SR Raja and Congress Legislature Party leader KR Ramaswamy spoke against the bill, the DMK MLAs resumed the slogan shouting, tore up copies of the bill and staged a walkout, followed by its allies, the Congress and the IUML.

Through the din, Dhanapal unsuccessfully kept appealing to the main opposition members to cooperate even as the scheduled government business was held which included passage of demands for grants for excess expenditure during the previous years and adoption of several bills.

Dhanapal also censured the DMK members for not following the House rules and said a resolution was being taken up on the Siruvani issue and their behaviour amounted to disruption of it being brought up. The trouble began after Stalin, who spoke on various issues, asked when the construction of the proposed 36,000 tenements for the police personnel would be completed.

Intervening, Jayalalithaa said the DMK did not have any "locus standi" to raise the issue as Tamil Nadu Police Housing Corporation was disbanded during its regime in 1989. The DMK members immediately objected to it.

Continuing, the Chief Minister said the corporation was revived during her regime in 1991 and through it, thousands of houses were constructed for the benefit of the police personnel, adding, "that was why I mentioned that the DMK did not have any locus standi to raise the issue." The DMK members, led by Stalin, again objected to it following which Speaker Dhanapal said the Chief Minister had given her explanation. Stalin, while replying to Jayalalithaa, made a remark but it was expunged by the Speaker.

The removal of the remark was strongly objected by the DMK with Stalin, the party's deputy leader Duraimurugan and other MLAs standing up en masse, urging the Speaker to allow the remark to go on record. Even as they were on their feet arguing with the Chair, Jayalalithaa stood up to reply to Stalin's remark, saying she was only trying to give an explanation to the Leader of Opposition.

However, the DMK MLAs were in no mood to listen to her as they continued to demand that the Speaker allowed Stalin's remark to go on the House record. Though Dhanapal said it would not be considered and appealed to the DMK MLAs to cooperate, they continued to make the demand. The Speaker then asked Jayalalithaa to move the Siruvani resolution.

The DMK members remained seated during the passage of the resolution which was adopted unanimously. Moments later, they resumed their slogan shouting as state Finance Minister O Panneerselvam began replying to the demand for grants to his departments amid the din. Soon, Jayalalithaa left the House and the DMK members continued to shout slogans which stopped when a bill on the urban local bodies was taken up.

The DMK has 89 members in the House. The Assembly was later adjourned sine die.