Barred from speaking on Governor's visits, DMK walks out of Assembly

DMK leader M.K. Stalin on Monday walked out of the Tamil Nadu Assembly along with party colleagues and allies after he was not allowed to raise the issue of Governor Banwarilal Purohit's controversial visits to various districts.

Speaker P. Dhanapal refused permission to Stalin to speak on the issue of Purohit holding review meetings in districts citing the Assembly rules barred discussion on the Governor in the House.

The DMK and its allies then trooped out of the House.

Speaking to reporters later, Stalin said the DMK would continue to hold black flag protests if Purohit continues to hold review meetings in districts.

He pointed that when the AIADMK was in power in 1995, the House had adopted a resolution against then Governor M. Channa Reddy.

On Sunday, the Raj Bhavan in a statement said the Governor would continue his visits to districts in the coming months and the Office of Governor was protected under Section 124 of the Indian Penal Code.

Referring to a news item that Stalin sought to lay siege to the area around Raj Bhavan to protest against the district visits of Purohit, the statement categorically said that "the Governor enjoys full authority and freedom to visit any part of the state".

On Saturday, the DMK led by Stalin took out a procession to Raj Bhavan protesting against the arrest of party cadres in Namakkal, around 390 km from here, for showing black flags to Purohit during his visit on Friday.

--IANS

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