Chennai: Leaders and workers of the AIADMK staged a hunger strike in Chennai on Thursday, condemning the DMK government and demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy, which claimed 63 lives.
The strike saw the participation of AIADMK leader and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Edappadi K. Palaniswami along with other senior party leaders.
The demand for a CBI probe follows persistent disruptions by the AIADMK in the Assembly, where they have been vocal about the illicit liquor tragedy since the session began. The opposition party has also called for the resignation of Chief Minister M.K. Stalin over the incident.
On Wednesday, a resolution was passed in the Assembly to suspend AIADMK members for disrupting proceedings. Tamil Nadu Speaker M. Appavu ordered the eviction of the AIADMK MLAs, who continued to demand an adjournment of the Q&A session and raised slogans over the tragedy.
Speaker Appavu expressed his frustration, stating, “Many important issues need to be discussed in the Assembly. The caste census resolution is to be passed. The CM also felt that the Opposition must be part of this. So, the CM intervened and requested not to suspend AIADMK MLAs for the entire session. As per rule 56, AIADMK gave a motion for adjournment. But they are not ready to listen to what I am saying.”
He added, “We never stopped AIADMK leaders from speaking in the assembly. But they should speak at the required time. It is painful to see in a democratic assembly, the AIADMK leaders keep on disrupting the proceedings. If this continues, how will other MLAs speak about their constituency?”