DMK urges Assembly speaker to cancel DMDK MLA's suspension

Urging the Speaker to cancel the suspension, Karunanidhi said that it may not be democratic to hold session without the main opposition party

Coming out in support of DMDK MLAs who were suspended in the last assembly session, DMK President M Karunanidhi today urged the Speaker to cancel it (suspension), saying it may not be 'democratic' to hold it (session) without the main opposition party.

"With the assembly session set to begin tomorrow, the order by the Speaker (P Dhanapal) suspending the MLAs has left only its leader Vijayakant to take part in the proceedings", he said in a statement.

Considering that it may not be "democratic" to conduct an Assembly session without the main opposition party, he urged the Speaker to cancel the suspension of the six MLAs so that they could take part in the session.

On February 19, the Assembly had witnessed tumultuous scenes following Deputy Leader of Opposition's remark against Jayalalithaa. A portion of the Speaker's podium was damaged and marshals attacked in the corridor while DMDK MLAs were suspended for the rest of the session.

The Speaker had described the incident as a "historic low" in the annals of the state Assembly.

Earlier during the budget session in March, DMDK MLAs including Vijayakant, wore black shirts and protested in front of the Chief Minister's Cell urging Speaker to allow them to take part in the House proceedings.