‘Cash for MLA’ sting: DMK walks out of Tamil Nadu Assembly, Stalin to meet Governor
DMK Working President MK Stalin. (PTI File Photo) DMK Working President MK Stalin. (PTI File Photo)
The DMK on Thursday staged a walkout from the Tamil Nadu Assembly after being denied permission to hold a discussion on the ‘cash for MLA’ sting. “Today again I was denied permission to raise MLA sting issue in assembly by speaker, in protest we staged walkout. We have sought an appointment with the Governor, he is out of town, will meet him soon as he is back,” DMK working president M K Stalin said. The Congress also joined the DMK and walked out from the House proceedings.
On Wednesday, DMK MLAs, including Stalin, were evicted from the assembly amid ruckus over a sting operation carried out by a private TV channel in which an AIADMK MLA claimed that he was offered Rs 2 crore to Rs 6 crore for supporting Edappadi Palaniswami in February’s trust vote. Speaker Dhanpal refused to allow Stalin to raise the issue, saying the matter was “subjudice”.
The Opposition legislators staged a protest outside the assembly and were later detained by police. Stalin demanded a CBI probe into the issue. “This Tamil Nadu Government headed by Edappadi K Palaniswami should be dissolved. Speaker forcibly evicted us from the assembly, this is a murder of democracy. I raised matter in assembly and sought explanation from the 2 MLAs in the sting. Also demanded a CBI probe, but we were evicted,” Stalin told reporters.
In February, Palaniswami survived a trust vote after 122 AIADMK MLAs voted for him. The AIADMK had split into two factions after death of former chief minister Jayalalithaa. O Panneerselvam was made chief minister, before he was allegedly forced to resign. He demanded a probe into Jayalalithaa’s death and the resignation of Sasikala as general secretary.
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