Stalin dares CM to accuse DMK outside House

Leading his party’s boycott of the Assembly session for the second day, Stalin, addressing the ‘Mock Assembly” held at DMK headquarters Anna Arivalayam on Wednesday in protest against the AIADMK for not taking a policy decision on the Sterlite closure, threatened to drag the CM to court the moment he blamed his party outside the House.

Moving all resolutions in the ‘Mock House’ chaired party whip R Chakrapani at Kalaignar Arangam, Stalin said the CM was levelling baseless allegations against the DMK feeling confident that Assembly speeches can’t be challenged in the court. “If you (CM) have the courage, blame the DMK (for the violence) outside the House. We will meet you in court the very next minute. Edappadi Palaniswami had turned the peaceful rally violent. He had ordered the shooting at the riotous rally. He is responsible for the 13 lives lost in Thoothukudi. He is the one who issued a namesake GO to close the Sterlite plant,” Stalin thundered, wrapping up the ‘mock session’, the second in the recent times held by DMK to ridicule the way incumbent Speaker P Dhanapal was running the House.

Asserting that they could not support or cooperate with a government, which guns down its own people, the Leader of Opposition said the only solution to safeguard Assembly democracy was to unseat the CM, who refuses to discuss the Thoothukudi police firing in the House.

Unlike the hilarious ‘mock session’ the party had held on the Fort St George campus months ago, Wednesday’s session in which Congress, IUML and MLA Karunaas occupied the Treasury benches while Stalin sat in the Opposition ranks, struck a serious note by opening with a minute’s silence for the 13 victims of the police firing in Thoothukudi before adopting resolutions demanding Rs 1 crore each to the families of the police killings, policy decision to shut down Sterlite and constitution of Cauvery Management Board.

The DMK, which gave a ringside view of the Arivalayam Assembly to all media houses, has also offered to allow Assembly proceedings to be aired live by all in future. DMK deputy legislature party leader Duraimurugan thanked Stalin for allowing all media houses to air the ‘mock session’ and appealed to Stalin to allow all TV channels to air the Assembly proceedings live after he occupies the CMO.

“Let the people see for themselves as to who speaks what. Allow all TVs to enter the House and air the session live,” Duraimurugan suggested, as Stalin smiled in approbation.

The DMK has summoned all of its district secretaries and MLAs for a meeting on June 2.

The meeting was announced moments after the principal opposition party successfully held a ‘Mock Assembly’ at its headquarters on Wednesday afternoon.

The meeting of district secretaries is likely to discuss the possibility of holding similar ‘Mock Assemblies’ in other districts, as was suggested by party working president MK Stalin in his speech during the mock session on Wednesday.

The DMK seems to repeat history by holding such sessions (read as meetings), as it did in the past. DMK president M Karunanidhi had sent headquarters secretary Duraimurugan, Rahman Khan and former MLA Suppu to hold paid meetings across the state when the party members were suspended from the Assembly on a previous occasion when the AIADMK was in power. 

The party had generated Rs 6 lakh from its meetings and used it as poll fund.

Duraimurugan, who recalled his tour in the ‘Mock Assembly’ session, suggested that Stalin hold similar meetings to explain the alleged wrongdoings of the AIADMK regime to the people.