Press Trust of India
Chennai: Sasikala loyalist EK Palaniswami Saturday won an easy trust vote 122-11, aided by the eviction of main opposition DMK and walkout by its allies, amid stormy scenes during which mikes were uprooted, chairs toppled and sheets of papers torn and hurled around.
The legislative assembly was reduced to a battleground, with Speaker P Dhanapal pushed and shoved around by agitated DMK MLAs whose leader MK Stalin warned they would commit “suicide” if attempts were made to marshal them out by the order of the chair before the crucial trust vote was conducted in their absence.
Palaniswami won a resounding majority with 122 AIADMK MLAs supporting him during the vote of confidence after those of the DMK were evicted and its allies staged a noisy walkout.
Together, they accounted for 98 MLAs in the 234-member Tamil Nadu assembly.
For all his spirited challenge, Palaniswami’s rival O Panneerselvam could muster support of only 11 MLAs.
The division vote was taken up after two adjournments following tempestuous scenes during which the opposition MLAs insisted on a secret vote, a demand rejected outright by Speaker Dhanapal.
Soon, Dhanapal was surrounded by a swarm of agitated DMK members, one of whom was seen trying to snatch the microphone from him.
Some angry opposition MLAs were seen hoisting and menacingly waving the chairs of official assembly reporters, while others tore sheets of paper and flung those around, including some towards the Speaker’s podium.
A few opposition MLAs were seen pushing the Speaker, prompting the watch and ward staff to immediately throw a security cordon around him and escort him to safety.
The shirts of Speaker Dhanapal and Leader of the Opposition Stalin were torn in the melee.
After adjournments, when the House reassembled at 3 pm, Speaker Dhanapal allowed Panneerselvam, who was among the votaries of a secret vote, Congress Legislature Party leader KR Ramasamy and IUML member Abubacker to make brief remarks.
The Speaker then ordered a block-wise division during which the MLAs were to stand in order to support or oppose the resolution moved by Palaniswami seeking confidence of the House.
The Palaniswami government sailed through the trust vote having garnered the support of 122 MLAs, with the DMK seats empty. Panneerselvam’s 11 MLAs voted against the resolution. DMK’s allies and Congress walked out and did not participate in the voting.
Speaker Dhanapal declared the result amid a roaring applause by MLAs who supported Palaniswami.
“I am hurt and ashamed,” the Speaker said after declaring the result of the trust vote, while referring to the unseemly scenes that preceded it.
It was only the second confidence vote in Tamil Nadu assembly in nearly three decades.
The previous such vote was taken in January 1988 during a succession war in AIADMK which was triggered following the death of its founder MG Ramachandran.
Janaki, the widow of Ramachandran, had then succeeded him in the midst of a bitter factional fight with J Jayalalithaa, then the AIADMK propaganda secretary. Though Janaki had won the confidence vote amid violent scenes during which the MLAs supporting Jayalalithaa and those of Congress were beaten up, her government was dismissed by the Centre two days later.
The Governor sent a report to the Rajiv Gandhi government on the unruly incidents that took place during the trust vote and recommended President’s rule. The recommendation was accepted.
The Janaki Ramachandran government had the shortest tenure of 24 days in Tamil Nadu’s history.
Voting done as per rules: Speaker Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker P Dhanapal said Palaniswami’s government has absolute majority and the voting on its confidence motion was done as per House rules.
Declaring the result of the confidence vote, won by the government with a 122-11 margin, he also charged DMK with stalling the House proceedings.
He said even if DMK and other Opposition parties had participated in the voting, the government would have won the trust vote.
“I categorically say that this government has got absolute majority by securing 122 votes in favour of the motion of confidence…The voting was done as per the House rules,” Dhanapal said.
Referring to the ruckus by DMK MLAs prior to their eviction, the Speaker said though he had the thought of forgetting the unsavoury incidents, he was anguished by Leader of Opposition M K Stalin’s comment outside the House that he (Dhanapal) was “shedding crocodile tears”.
He said he saw the happenings in the Assembly as a “pre-planned drama” enacted by DMK without respecting his office. “The Speaker was treated badly to the extent possible, I condemn it,” Dhanapal said. Earlier in the day, Dhanapal, who was gheraoed by DMK members, said his shirt was torn. Later, he adjourned the House sine die after a motion for it was moved by Leader of the House KA Sengottaiyan.