Tamil Nadu Assembly on fire as leaders lash out

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Assembly witnessed an unusually fiery session on Tuesday after the ruling TVK, principal opposition DMK and the AIADMK were involved in angry exchanges, leaving an exasperated Speaker to warn the members that he would be compelled to evict them if they continued to cross the limits of parliamentary conduct.

The episode that caught the attention of all happened during the debate over the Parandur airport project. Both TVK and DMK resorted to personal attacks and jibes like “G Square Mappillai” and “Lottery Marumagan”, referring to DMK president MK Stalin’s son-in-law V Sabareesan and Minister Aadhav Arjuna, who is the son-in-law of lottery baron Santiago Martin, respectively.

The clash was triggered by Law and Energy Minister R Nirmalkumar’s allegation that the DMK was raising the issue of “G Square Mappillai” and others who allegedly invested black money in real estate businesses in Parandur, which led to former minister Thangam Thennarasu commenting about “Lottery Marumagan”.

The matter did not end there, as Aadhav later alleged that DMK ministers and MLAs were using benami companies to plunder minerals and asked why the opposition MLAs were agitated when he referred to G Square or mountains.

While his cabinet colleagues KA Sengottaiyan, N Anand, and A Rajmohan defended him, DMK Whip EV Velu said the ruling party should produce evidence for its accusations and said the opposition could not remain silent when such remarks were made.

Intervening in the squabble, Speaker JCD Prabhakar said he was deeply distressed by members rushing towards one another and using words that should not be heard in the House. "I do not want to be forced into the painful act of sending anyone out of the House," he warned.

The scenes turned more dramatic when TVK MLA Madhar Badhurudeen criticised the DMK over its alleged past references to Muslims as “terrorists”. As tempers rose, DMK’s Poondi K Kalaivannan and Vasantham Karthikeyan moved towards the front row to exchange angry words with TVK members.

School Education Minister Rajmohan alleged that Karthikeyan used filthy language against the TVK and asked if their leaders taught them MLAs to behave in such a manner. Following this, Kalaivannan went directly to the Speaker's chair and explained why he had moved away from his seat.

At one point, Velu was seen physically restraining the DMK members, and finally, along with Govi Chezhiaan, he convinced the MLAs to remain calm.

That was not all, as the day also witnessed angry words between the AIADMK general secretary over the resignation of six AIADMK MLAs. It began as a clash between DMK’s Austin and Minister Aadhav. Soon, Sengottaiyan joined and alleged that the TVK candidate from Edappadi constituency withdrawing nomination papers was horse-trading.

Angered by this, Palaniswami countered that the candidate's nomination paper had been rejected. The scenes worsened when AIADMK members began arguing with the Speaker. Eventually, Prabhakar expunged key portions of the debate, saying the matter was pending before the court.