AIADMK’s 2nd walkout in a day in protest against ‘biased’ Speaker
AIADMK members accused the Speaker of systematically denying them the opportunity to voice their rebuttals during the debate on the demands for grants for the Cooperation, Food and Civil Supplies departments.
Speaker M Appavu
CHENNAI: High drama unfolded in the Assembly on Tuesday as members of the principal opposition, the AIADMK, staged a second walkout in a day, alleging partiality by Speaker M Appavu.
AIADMK members accused the Speaker of systematically denying them the opportunity to voice their rebuttals during the debate on the demands for grants for the Cooperation, Food and Civil Supplies departments.
The heated exchange began when Minister for Food and Civil Supplies R Sakkarapani, while responding to the debate, claimed that AIADMK legislators were presenting contradictory data but were still permitted to speak.
This sparked a sharp response from the opposition benches, particularly from former ministers Sellur K Raju and R Kamaraj, who repeatedly sought the Speaker's permission to respond to the minister's alleged misleading statements.
However, when their attempts to interject were denied, Opposition Whip S P Velumani announced that the AIADMK would stage a walkout in protest against the Speaker's “deliberate suppression of opposition voices.”
Speaking to reporters after staging a walkout from the House for the second time in a day, deputy Leader of the Opposition RB Udhayakumar accused Speaker Appavu of acting in a "partisan and autocratic manner" and claimed that opposition legislators were being denied their democratic right to respond during important budgetary discussions.
"We are witnessing a complete breakdown of legislative decorum. The Speaker is allowing DMK ministers to make baseless accusations without providing us the opportunity to respond with factual rebuttals. This is nothing short of a democratic massacre inside the Assembly," Udayakumar said.
He further accused the ruling party of intentionally curbing dissent, especially when opposition members sought to highlight shortcomings in the DMK government's handling of key issues such as cooperative society elections, ration card distribution, and agricultural subsidies.
Sellur K Raju, for his part, lambasted the DMK ministers for allegedly evading direct questions posed by AIADMK MLA Ashok Kumar.
"The ministers failed to provide specific answers and instead made unfounded and inflammatory statements, including claims about fake memberships in cooperative societies," he added.
