Wednesday turned out to be a day of further setbacks for the DMK, the principal Opposition party in Tamil Nadu with the Speaker of the legislative Assembly ordering the en masse eviction of the party MlAs who squatted in front of the podium demanding that certain comments made by one of the AIADMK MlAs be expunged.
The day also saw Premalatha, wife of DMDK chief Vijayakanth announcing that there was no possibility of a tie-up between her party and the DMK. Speculations are rife all over Tamil Nadu that the DMDK led by Vijayakanth may align with the DMK though the former has refused to open his mind about his plans for the Assembly election.
The commotion in the Assembly began with G V Markandayan of the AIADMK making some remarks about Sabarish Vedamurthy (49), the son-in-law of M K Stalin, treasurer of the DMK, during the debate on the interim budget. The DMK members demanded the expunging of the remarks made by Markandayan for which Speaker Dhanapal sought some time.
The agitated DMK members rushed to the podium and were seen engaged in a heated argument with the Speaker. With the members refusing to heed to his requests, the Speaker summoned the house marshals and ordered the en masse eviction of the DMK MlAs. This is the
last session of the present legislature assembly which will conclude on Saturday.
The DMK, which is yet to recover from the shock created by the statement of M K Alagiri, the estranged son of party chief M Karunanidhi that the party would not win in the 2016 Assembly election, was rattled by a declaration by Premalatha, wife of DMDK Chief Vijayakanth that her party would not have any kind of ties with the Dravidian major. The whole of Tamil Nadu is agog with speculations that the Vijayakanth-led DMDK may align with the DMK. “How is it possibleIJ We all know that the DMK and the Congress are the root causes of corruption,” Premalatha told journalists at Kancheepuram.
But she was quick to point out that it was for Vijayakanth to take the final call on the issue. The DMDK has called for a major one-day conference of the party at Kancheepuram on Saturday where Vijayakanth is expected to announce his plans for the upcoming Assembly election.
Premalatha along with her brother Sudhish wield considerable influence in the DMDK. It has to be remembered that Premalatha received special compliments and congratulations from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for her spirited and intense campaign during the 2014 lok Sabha election. Modi waxed eloquence on Premalatha and Vijayakanth during the NDA meeting which elected him as Prime Minister. According to DMDK insiders, the husband-wife team is unlikely to burn the bridges with the Prime Minister as the leaders of the saffron party are always in communication with Vijayakanth.