The Tamil Nadu Assembly witness acrimonious scenes over a debate on the level of the check dam on Palar

Chennai, July 26: The Assembly on Monday witnessed acrimonious scenes for nearly 25 minutes over a debate initiated by Leader of Opposition M.K. Stalin on Andhra Pradesh raising the level of the check dam on Palar.

When Mr. Stalin sought an adjournment motion to discuss the issue, Speaker P. Dhanapal denied permission on the ground that the matter was pending before the Supreme Court, reports thehindu.com.

The DMK members, however, demanded that Mr. Stalin be allowed to raise the issue.

The Speaker said it was unfair on the part of the DMK members to intervene when he was interacting with their leader.

Unrelenting DMK MLAs

As the DMK members were unrelenting, the Speaker allowed Mr. Stalin to speak.

At one point, Finance Minister and Leader of the House O. Panneerselvam intervened to make a point but the DMK members said Mr. Stalin should be allowed to continue his speech.

It led to a war of words between the Speaker and DMK members and Mr. Dhanapal said he had to give an opportunity to the Leader of the House to explain his stand.

“You need not teach me on how to run the House. Mr. Stalin can continue his speech after Mr. Panneerselvam finishes his explanation,” he said, and urged Mr. Stalin and DMK deputy leader Duraimurugan to rein in their party members.

Mr. Panneerselvam said the Speaker had allowed Mr. Stalin to talk about the issue without going into the case that was already in the Supreme Court. “What will happen if we also raise our voice?” he said.

Suddenly, the AIADMK members also joined issue with the DMK members and the House witnessed noisy scenes.

“You have prevented the business of the House for 25 minutes. It cannot be allowed,” Mr. Panneerselvam said.

All-party delegation

When Mr. Stalin resumed his speech, he wanted the Chief Minister to lead an all-party team to Andhra Pradesh to prevail upon its Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu to give up raising the height of the check dam.

“The Assembly should also adopt a resolution condemning the action of Andhra Pradesh,” he said.

Mr. Duraimurugan said since Mr. Naidu was maintaining a cordial relationship with Tamil Nadu, an all-party delegation to the State could easily resolve the issue.