Duraimurugan chairs ‘mock assembly’

It was part parody and part ridicule, but it did get the message across that the DMK would participate in “assembly proceedings” even if the suspended MLAs were not allowed inside the hallowed hall. At about 10.30 am when the assembly session started, suspended DMK MLAs who were waiting in front of the Assembly were joined by Opposition leader MK Stalin. Within minutes chairs, mikes and a stand-alone battery- powered amplifier were set up and a mock assembly session got under way. 

Duraimurugan was the ‘speaker’ while members who sat on both sides were the treasury and opposition benches. For the next 30 minutes, spectators, marshalls and police watched as Duraimurugan mimicked Assembly Speaker P Dhanapal. The question hour was followed by a ‘calling attention motion.’   Stalin seated on Duraimurugan’s right watched the ‘goings on’ with amusement. When opposition MLAs wanted to raise a point, Duraimurugan said, ‘your words will not enter official records’. When a MLA said the cradle baby scheme should be named ayah scheme, Duraimurugan shot him down saying his words would be expunged. When a MLA wanted to talk of RK Nagar, ‘speaker’ Duraimurugan disallowed it as it was not his constituency. Speaking after this, Stalin said the mock assembly was staged to show how a real Assembly should be run.

Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker P Dhanapal on Friday categorically ruled out revoking the suspension of 79 of the 89 Opposition DMK members from the House for a week for disrupting the proceedings and creating ruckus. During Zero Hour, former DMK Minister K N Nehru and other DMK MLAs, who did not attract suspension as they were not present in the House on Wednesday, along with the DMK allies, Congress and IUML, made a fervent plea to the Speaker to reconsider his decision. However, Dhanapal categorically stated that there was no question of rescinding his ruling, suspending the DMK members for a week.  “I was very patient that day and had to finally take action,” he said  on his decision to suspend the MLAs. Following the Speaker’s reply, the DMK members along with the Congress and IUML MLAs staged a walk-out from the State Assembly.

The DMK on Friday moved the Madras High Court seeking to quash the suspension of its 79 MLAs by the Assembly Speaker P Dhanapal. It also pleaded to reject Section 121 of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Rules as illegal and unconstitutional.

When the First bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice R Mahadevan commenced proceedings on Friday, senior advocates Mohan Parasaran and NR Elango made a mention of the en masse suspension of DMK MLAs and sought urgent hearing of the case. However, the bench, while accepting the validity of the issue, asked the party to file an affidavit that could be taken up for hearing in the regular course. The PIL, by DMK treasurer and leader of Opposition MK Stalin, is based on the aspect that “suspension of the entire opposition of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly under the guise of Rule 121 is unprecedented in the history of Parliamentary democracy, and is an abuse of power.” Stalin also contended that the entire course of events appeared to be an elaborate charade which was pre-conceived to deprive the DMK members from engaging in debates and proceedings in the forthcoming week, when vital Bills are slated to be taken up. He also noted that Rule 121 is ex-facie unconstitutional, as it provides for suspension without hearing the member in question.