Tamil Nadu Assembly: DMK MLAs Evicted After Row Over Vijay’s Corruption Allegations
In Short
DMK MLAs were evicted from the Tamil Nadu Assembly after protesting against Chief Minister Vijay’s corruption allegations against the previous DMK government and demanding that his remarks be removed from the records.
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Tamil Nadu Assembly: DMK MLAs Evicted After Row Over Vijay’s Corruption Allegations
The Tamil Nadu Assembly descended into chaos on Tuesday when DMK members raised their objections over the words of Chief Minister Vijay on alleging corruption in the previous DMK government. The Speaker opposed the removal of the remarks from the Assembly minutes and then sent the Assembly's marshals to bring the protesting MLAs back into the House.
DMK Demands Removal Of Vijay’s Remarks
The confrontation began shortly after the Assembly proceedings started. In his speech on Monday, Vijay had come up with such references, which were objected by DMK Whip EV Velu and requested him to remove them from the record.
Vijay had cited an Enforcement Directorate (ED) document while making allegations of corruption against the previous DMK regime. He claimed the document indicated that contractors were allegedly asked to contribute between 7.5% and 10% of contract values as “party funds” for works carried out under the Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department.
The Chief Minister also alleged that the ED document named then Chief Minister MK Stalin and his son Udhayanidhi Stalin among the alleged beneficiaries.
Vijay further referred to the Sarkaria Commission report in connection with allegations surrounding the Veeranam water supply scheme. He claimed the report contained references to demands for “party funds” during an earlier DMK government.
Speaker Rejects Demand To Expunge Remarks
Law Minister R Nirmal Kumar defended Vijay’s comments, saying the Chief Minister had relied on the Sarkaria Commission report and information contained in official ED documents.
Speaker JCD Prabhakar rejected the DMK's demand to remove Vijay’s remarks, arguing that the Chief Minister had referred to information already available in the public domain.
The Speaker also cited earlier Assembly discussions involving the Sarkaria Commission and referred to Vijay’s remarks about former Chief Minister MK Stalin’s arrest under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA).
Prabhakar said there was no basis for deleting the statements from the Chief Minister’s speech.
DMK MLAs Continue Protest
Despite the Speaker’s ruling, DMK legislators continued their protest and gathered near the Speaker’s podium while raising slogans.
Leader of the House KA Sengottaiyan urged the Speaker to take action against the protesting MLAs according to Assembly rules.
The Speaker gave the legislators one minute to return to their seats and said KN Nehru or EV Velu would be allowed to speak. However, the protest continued.
Prabhakar also objected to posters being brought into the Assembly without permission and warned the MLAs to return to their seats.
Marshals Evict Protesting Legislators
As the sloganeering continued, the Speaker directed Assembly marshals to remove the protesting DMK MLAs from the House.
The legislators continued raising slogans while being escorted out of the Assembly hall.
The latest confrontation comes a day after Vijay launched a sharp attack on the previous DMK government, citing official documents while making allegations of corruption. The DMK has strongly objected to those references and continues to demand that they be removed from the Assembly records.
