Oppn MLAs walk out of Pondy Assembly over no confidence motion

Opposition AINRC, AIADMK and BJP MLAs staged a walk out of the Puducherry Assembly on Tuesday protesting the Speaker not announcing a date for debate on the no confidence motion against him as demanded by them.

Leader of the Opposition, N Rangasamy (AINRC) drew the attention of the House to the notice for moving the no confidence motion against Speaker V P Sivakolundhu, which he had submitted recently and wanted to know when it would be taken up for discussion.

Heated arguments were witnessed between the treasury and the opposition benches on the matter with the ruling Congress MLAs insisting that the Leader of Opposition should not insist on a date for debate on the motion.

Intervening, the Speaker said, "there is still time. The relevant statute prescribed 14 days time and hence the member could wait till then."
To this, Agriculture Minister R Kamalakannan said, "there is a clear prescription of the time frame for the date for debate and hence the members should abstain from seeking an immediate reply."