TN: AIADMK Struggles to Be Heard in Tamil Nadu Assembly

In the recently concluded month-long Tamil Nadu Budget session, MLAs of the main opposition party, All India Anna Dravida Munetra Kazhagm (AIADMK), staged several walk-outs. They particularly accused the assembly speaker of “inaction” in removing expelled leader O Panneerselvam from the post of Deputy Leader of the Opposition.

They also accused the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) of conspiring against the AIADMK with the help of Panneerselvam.

Moreover, AIADMK MLAs said the speeches of the opposition leaders were not aired live when they raised people’s issues in the House; only the replies of ministers were screened. They additionally said they were not given time to speak in the House.

Minusing Panneerselvam and his three supporters, the AIADMK has 62 MLAs in the 234-member Assembly.

WALK-OUTS

It began on the first day of the assembly session, March 20, when state Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan presented the Budget for 2023-24. AIADMK MLAs staged a walk-out stating that democracy was murdered in Erode East by-poll elections and that the DMK-led Government has failed miserably.

The Leader of Opposition, Edappadi K Palaniswami, condemned the price rise in essential commodities, the increase in the electric bill, and the surge in property tax and said law and order are not good in the state.

A few days later, on March 23, during the discussion on the bill to ban online gambling, when Panneerselvam was asked to speak, he said, “I welcome the bill on behalf of the AIADMK.” This enraged AIADMK MLAs, they questioned how Speaker M Appavu allowed him to speak on behalf of the party. After heated exchanges with Panneerselvam supporters, Palaniswami led his colleagues in a walk-out.

LoP Palaniswami had earlier written to the Assembly Speaker urging him not to recognise expelled leader Panneerselvam as a member of the AIADMK Legislative Party.

On April 6, during the debate on demand for grants for the food and civil supplies department, AIADMK members staged a walkout accusing the Speaker of not giving time to counter the charges levelled by DMK.

On April 10, when the DMK moved a second Resolution against Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi for allegedly blocking Bills passed by the State Assembly, AIADMK and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), legislators staged a walk-out. Besides not being given time to speak in the House, AIADMK MLAs said the Speaker did not take steps to disqualify Panneerselvam and appoint R B Udhayakumar as deputy LoP.

On April 20, the Election Commission recognised Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) as the general secretary of AIADMK. The ECI accepted the amendments to the party bylaws brought in the July 11 general council meeting, where Panneerselvam was expelled. Senior AIADMK leaders met the Speaker before the legislative session on April 21 and submitted their demands and a copy of the ECI letter. 

The AIADMK MLAs also requested the Speaker to change the seating arrangement of Panneerselvam, who was seated next to Palaniswami in the House. However, the Speaker said their demands would be resolved in the next session. This infuriated AIADMK MLAs, and they staged a walkout from the Assembly.

On the same day, the Factories (Amendment) Act 2023 was passed, extending work time from eight to 12-hour for factory workers.

AIADMK SPEECHES NOT AIRED

The AIADMK MLAs alleged that the speeches of the opposition leaders were not aired live during the assembly session, and only the replies of ministers were being aired.

Charging that the speeches of LoP Palaniswami were deliberately “cut out” from the live webcast of Assembly proceedings, the AIADMK staged a walk-out on April 12. Initially, when the issue was raised in the House, the Speaker maintained that there might be some technical issue which would be looked into.

On April 18, when AIADMK members again raised the issue, Speaker Appavu said the matter could be discussed, and a decision may be taken after some consideration.

AIADMK MLAs wore black masks covering their mouths to the State Assembly on April 20  as a protest against the undemocratic rejection of the opposition's requests.

Moreover, many motions raised by the main opposition party in the state were not brought into the discussion. Responding to an issue raised by an AIADMK MLA on April 17, Speaker Appavu informed the Assembly that the chair received 660 requests from MLAs for moving a unique calling attention motion, and about 134 of the requests were admitted.

Some of the motions raised by AIADMK MLAs that came to discussion include the issue of evicting fisherfolk from the Marina Loop Road in Chennai, closing TASMAC outlets, the Cauvery-Vaigai-Gundar river linking project and the absence of a large number of students from class 12 exams.