DMK walks out of Assembly over CM Vijay's reply to Governor's address

CHENNAI: DMK members staged a walkout from the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on Tuesday (June 23), objecting to Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay's remarks during his reply to the motion of thanks to the Governor's address.

The walk out took place on the final day of the first session of the 17th Tamil Nadu Assembly, which began on June 18.

DMK objects to CM's remarks, seeks time for Leader of the Opposition

The issue arose while Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay was replying to the debate on the Governor's address. During his speech, Vijay criticised the previous DMK government on issues including TASMAC revenues, law and order, narcotics and power shortages.

He alleged that public money had been misused during the previous regime and asserted that his government would not allow corruption. Objecting to these remarks, DMK MLAs rose from their seats and demanded that Leader of the Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin be allowed to respond immediately, according to a Daily Thanthi report. The members sought time for the Opposition leader to counter the Chief Minister's statements, leading to noisy scenes in the House.

Speaker assures floor time

Amid the commotion, Speaker JCD Prabhkar assured the Opposition members that Udhayanidhi Stalin would be given an opportunity to place his views after the Chief Minister completed his reply.

However, the DMK members continued raising slogans and remained on their feet despite repeated appeals from the Speaker and Leader of the House K A Sengottaiyan to maintain order in the House.

Opposition stages walkout

Refusing to accept the assurance, DMK legislators continued objecting to portions of the Chief Minister's speech. The DMK members then walked out of the Assembly, disrupting proceedings briefly before leaving the House.