Confrontational Arjuna derailing House: Premallatha Vijayakant

CHENNAI: DMDK general secretary and Vriddhachalam MLA Premallatha Vijayakant on Thursday criticised repeated disruptions in the Assembly, saying arguments and commotion broke out whenever Minister Aadhav Arjuna rose to speak.

Intervening in the proceedings, Premallatha urged members to avoid unnecessary confrontations and devote more time to issues concerning the people.

"The Assembly is meant to discuss people's problems. But for the past three or four days, there have been continuous arguments. Members keep making allegations against one another, consuming valuable time. What benefit does this bring to the people of Tamil Nadu?" she asked.

She said members appeared to be spending more time preparing for arguments than discussing public issues. Though the House was convened to debate demands for grants, only about an hour was being spent on people's issues, while much of the remaining time was consumed by arguments, she said.

"Everyone should be given an opportunity to speak in the House. This is an Assembly, not a fighting forum," Premallatha said, urging the Speaker to ensure that proceedings remained focused on public concerns.

She further said the House remained peaceful until Aadhav began speaking and suggested that he should not be allowed to intervene if his participation repeatedly led to disruptions.

Responding to her remarks, Aadhav said he respected Premallatha and knew how late DMDK founder Vijayakant had conducted himself as Leader of the Opposition.

"When opposition members make false statements and allegations, I am compelled to respond and clarify them. I also request Anniyar to tell the same thing to the DMK members about how they should speak in the House," he said.