AIADMK MLAs were evicted en masse from the Assembly on Wednesday after they staged a dharna in front of the Speaker, reiterating Leader of the Opposition Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s request to allocate the seat, now occupied by former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam, to AIADMK MLA R.B. Udhayakumar.
During Zero Hour, Mr. Palaniswami recalled the letters submitted to the Chair on behalf of the party, communicating the appointment of Mr. Udhayakumar as the party’s deputy floor leader and the expulsion of three MLAs — Mr. Panneerselvam, R. Vaithilingam and Paul Manoj Pandian — from the party.
But Speaker M. Appavu maintained that the Constitution provides only for the post of Leader of the Opposition in the House and not that of the deputy floor leader. Soon after, AIADMK members raised slogans in support of Mr. Palaniswami’s request. The Chair went on to cite the decisions of former Speaker P. Dhanapal (during the AIADMK government) in support of his position that it was the Speaker’s prerogative to decide on seat allocation to the members.
Mr. Appavu also recalled that a request for allotting a seat in the front row to former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi — given that he was using a wheelchair — was declined during the AIADMK regime.
When the sloganeering intensified, Mr. Appavu pointed out that Mr. Panneerselvam’s seat was allocated only on the recommendation of the AIADMK initially. Recalling how Mr. Panneerselvam and 10 AIADMK MLAs voted during a confidence motion moved by Mr. Palaniswami in 2017, Mr. Appavu said the then Speaker did not disqualify them under the 10th Schedule of the Constitution; hence, the AIADMK could not take different positions in different circumstances.
As some AIADMK members sat on the floor near the Speaker’s podium, the Speaker ordered the House marshals to evict them. A few AIADMK MLAs had to be physically removed from the Assembly Hall, while Mr. Panneerselvam and his supporters remained in the House.
Contending that the AIADMK now had “four divisions”, led by Mr. Palaniswami, Mr. Panneerselvam, former MLA T.T.V. Dhinakaran and V.K. Sasikala, Mr. Appavu said the possibility of their coming together could not be ruled out. “You cannot expect the House to resolve your intra-party differences,” he said. Later, Mr. Panneerselvam said the case relating to the intra-party issues was pending in the Supreme Court, and the Speaker should not have allowed Mr. Palaniswami to speak on intra-party matters in the House.
