Chennai, Aug 25:
The Tamil Nadu Assembly on Tuesday witnessed a heated exchange over the resignation of six AIADMK MLAs, with former Chief Minister and AIADMK legislator Edappadi K. Palaniswami questioning how the interests of people in the vacant constituencies would be protected and ministers demanding early by-elections.
The issue surfaced during the debate on demands for grants when questions were raised over the absence of elected representatives in six Assembly constituencies following the resignations.
Palaniswami asked who would attend to the grievances and development needs of people in the constituencies that no longer had MLAs. The government had appointed ministers in charge of the vacant constituencies, but he questioned whether a single minister could effectively visit and oversee all the areas concerned.
Responding to him, Minister Sengottaiyan said responsibility ministers had been appointed to look after the constituencies until fresh representatives were elected. He also maintained that elections should be held in the vacant seats at the earliest.
The exchange soon turned into a sharp confrontation between the two leaders when Sengottaiyan questioned whether the withdrawal of a TVK candidate from the Edappadi constituency amounted to “horse-trading”.
Palaniswami reacted strongly, stating that the TVK candidate had not withdrawn but that the nomination had been rejected.
Speaker JCD Prabhakar intervened and urged Palaniswami not to become emotional and to continue his remarks calmly.
DMK MLA Austin also entered the debate, questioning whether six MLAs would have resigned within a month without any expectation of benefit. He said the absence of MLAs had left people in the six constituencies uncertain about whom they should approach with their problems.
The Speaker clarified that the decision on conducting by-elections rested entirely with the Election Commission and that the Assembly could not independently decide on the poll schedule.
Minister Adhav Arjuna said ministers in charge had been appointed for all six vacant constituencies to receive public grievances and ensure that administrative issues were addressed until the seats were filled.
The Assembly had earlier witnessed another round of commotion when DMK MLA Austin referred to political developments surrounding former Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin and raised questions about remarks made by Minority Commission chairman Felix Gerald.
Minister Nirmal Kumar responded that the issue concerning the Minority Commission chairman was a separate matter and said there was no blanket restriction on him speaking at public forums. He also referred to instances during the previous regime when personalities holding public positions participated in political discussions.
AIADMK member Thalavai Sundaram then intervened, stating that Austin had been associated with several political parties in the past. His remarks drew strong protests from DMK members, leading to noisy scenes in the House.
Minister K.N. Nehru questioned why Thalavai Sundaram had been allowed to intervene when Austin was speaking, arguing that the minister concerned or the Leader of the House should have responded.
The Speaker explained that he had allowed Thalavai Sundaram to speak assuming that he was rising to offer a clarification.
The resignation issue later returned to dominate the proceedings, with Palaniswami and Sengottaiyan engaging in a sharp war of words over the vacancies, the need for by-elections and the political circumstances surrounding recent developments.
The debate underscored the growing political tension over the six vacant Assembly constituencies, with the opposition pressing for clarity on representation and the government maintaining that interim arrangements had been made while the Election Commission retained the authority to decide when by-elections would be held.