As soon as the Tamil Nadu Assembly gathered for the Trust Vote on Saturday, the opposition MLAs and O Panneerselvam’s camp made it clear that the going would definitely not be smooth.
Separately, DMK working president MK Stalin, OPS’s ‘whip’ Semmalai, AIADMK’s R Nataraj and Panneerselvam himself stood up to demand a secret ballot. Reports from the Assembly say that the Speaker, Dhanapal, made it quite clear that he wasn’t willing to entertain any such requests.
“It is the Speaker’s right to decide how a vote is held, and no one has a right to interfere with that,” the Speaker reportedly said.
But even as he refused this request, the opposition had another one ready. Stalin, and later other leaders, demanded that the Trust Vote be postponed. As MLA Nataraj reportedly put it, “The vote should only be held after MLAs have a chance to go to their constituency and meet the people.”
While the MLAs supporting Chief Minister Palaniswami were reportedly quiet, the opposition DMK and the OPS camp were unhappy with the Speaker’s stand, and started sloganeering in the well of the House.
Soon, they reportedly gheraoed the Speaker, and allegedly even broke some chairs and mics in the Assembly. The Speaker had to allegedly be carried out of the House by the Marshals at one point.
What will happen at 1pm? Will the MLAs behave? The jury is out.
Source: The News Minute