Chennai, Aug 12:
Recent political realignments triggered a heated exchange in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Tuesday, with former AIADMK leaders O Panneerselvam and K A Sengottaiyan trading barbs over their respective shifts in political allegiance, forcing Speaker JCD Prabhakar to intervene and expunge certain remarks from the proceedings.
The exchange began during the debate on the General and Agricultural Budgets, when Panneerselvam, who was a former AIADMK leader and now a DMK legislator, criticised the ruling TVK government for failing to fulfil its poll promises and described the budget as a disappointment.
Leader of the House and Revenue Minister Sengottaiyan, who recently switched from the AIADMK to the TVK led by Chief Minister Vijay, defended the government, saying it was not possible to fulfil all electoral promises within three months of assuming office and that the government had a five-year mandate to implement them.
The debate, however, soon turned personal, with both former AIADMK leaders referring to each other’s political shifts and loyalty to their former party and leaders.
Sengottaiyan took a swipe at Panneerselvam over his decision to leave the AIADMK and join the DMK, while Panneerselvam hit back by pointing to Sengottaiyan’s own move to the TVK. Sengottaiyan said, “Just because you shifted your stance (having quit the AIADMK and joined the DMK in the run-up to the polls), you should sing paeans to your leader.”
The exchange intensified when School Education Minister Rajmohan referred to Sengottaiyan continuing to carry a photograph of late AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa in his shirt pocket, contrasting it with Panneerselvam’s alleged change of photograph after joining the DMK.
PWD Minister Aadhav Arjuna also praised Sengottaiyan for retaining Jayalalithaa’s photograph, prompting Panneerselvam to assert that the icons of the Dravidian movement-including Periyar, C N Annadurai, M Karunanidhi, M G Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa—continued to remain in his heart.
Speaker Prabhakar intervened as the political exchanges became increasingly personal and ordered certain remarks made by the members to be expunged.
The episode highlighted the shifting political allegiances of several former AIADMK leaders ahead of the recent electoral battle and brought those realignments into sharp focus on the Assembly floor.