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Wasted four days, welcome back to Assembly: Jayakumar tells Stalin
While chiding Leader of Opposition MK Stalin for wasting 4-days by staying away from the Legislative Assembly session, Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar welcomed the Principal Opposition DMK working president to discharge his democratic duties.
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Chennai
Jayakumar was talking to reporters at the airport before he flew out to Mumbai to attend a meeting with a group of Ministers regarding the GST.
The Minister observed that the LoP along with his party legislators staged a walkout on their own volition. “We’ve already told him that we were not against his participation in the session and that there was no bar as well for his party MLAs from attending the session,” Jayakumar said.
Recalling the LoP’s challenge to the ruling dispensation for a daylong debate on Sterlite, Jayakumar said that the Edappadi K Palaniswami regime was prepared to debate for not just an entire day but throughout the year. “If he desires, we can have it all round the year,” Jayakumar said.
“Starting Tuesday last, the LoP has lost four days of precious Assembly time. He could have used the same for the benefit of state and his constituency through constructive participation in the House proceedings,” Jayakumar said furthering his attack.
“Now that he has volunteered to return, let him come and discharge his duties here in the Assembly. And involve himself in constructive things,” he added.
Asked whether the Opposition’s charge that they were not provided time to speak in the Assembly, Jayakumar dismissed it as false and said that adequate chances were provided for the Opposition unlike during the DMK regimes.
“One can find out how much time was given to the Opposition between 2006- 2011 by going through the Assembly records. “The quantum of time accorded to the Opposition is huge,” he said.
Jayakumar greeted DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi that he lives to see another 100 years, when the scribes pressed him to react to the nonagenarian’s birthday as a political contemporary.
Asked why the City Police has not done anything to arrest BJP leader S Ve Sheker for abusing women scribes while it arrested a city woman for abusing BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan, the Minister maintained that certain orders were passed in the case by the Supreme Court.
On his Mumbai visit, the Minister said that the state would continue to oppose the Rs 3 cess on sugar which falls under 5 per cent GST bracket as it would affect the common people.
Our aim is to discuss political crisis: DMK
DMK working president MK Stalin has said that the decision to participate in the Assembly proceedings was taken to discuss political crisis, especially after Thoothukudi firing incident.
In a statement issued on Sunday, he said, “After Thoothukudi police firing, the state has been witnessing political crises and this necessitated us to take part in the Assembly proceedings. Further, we will discuss the people’s issues actively.”
Stating that the DMK was only an opposition party, not enemy, he said “Even all the legislators in the Assembly are not our rivals and all of us have responsibility to maintain good relationship with people of Tamil Nadu and this can be done only in the Assembly.”
The DMK members have always been speaking in the Assembly for the welfare of the people. “We are also supporting the ruling party on a host of issues ranging from Jallikattu, NEET and Cauvery and we cooperated to pass resolutions on these issues,” Stalin said and hit out at state government for functioning without majority and with the support of the BJP at the Centre. The state government has miserably failed to focus on people’s issues and the government has murdered democracy, he blamed.
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