Chaos in Tamil Nadu Assembly: MLAs break chairs, tables; House adjourned

Ruckus in the House as AIADMK factions clash before Palaniswami floor test; Speaker walks out

Tamil Nadu Speaker  P Dhanpal walked out of the Assembly after utter chaos during the special session convened on Saturday. The session was subsequently adjourned till 3 pm.

After AIADMK factions raised slogans against each other, Opposition parties, including DMK and Congress, extended their support to the ousted CM O Panneerselvam.

At present, DMK has 89 members in the state assembly while the Congress has eight. 

Leaders supporting Pannerselvam have asked the Speaker to allow him to speak in the Assembly. Except for the Sasikala-backed AIADMK faction, all members in the Assembly asked for a secret ballot, a move rejected by the Speaker.

Dhanapal also rejected DMK leader M K Stalin's plea to postpone the floor test for Edapaddi Palaniswami, who had recently been appointed the CM of Tamil Nadu by Governor Vidyasagar Rao.

All communication have been stopped after the commencement of the special session.

MLA Natarajan requested the Speaker to allow MLAs to meet the voters before the casting of votes. Voting began in phases in six blocks. 

Dhanapal, however, accused the DMK leaders, who went up to the Speaker's table, of creating a commotion and disrupting the session.