CM’s ‘party fund’ remark triggers debate, Udhaya dares him to name party

Chennai: Opposition leader in assembly Udhayanidhi Stalin and DMK legislators walked out of the house on Tuesday after Speaker J C D Prabhakar refused him permission to raise a point of order against chief minister C Joseph Vijay’s remarks of linking Tasmac funds to alleged corruption under the previous regime.Udhayanidhi challenged Vijay to reveal “the facts” and identify the party that had allegedly received the fund. He said DMK was prepared to face any legal scrutiny. The issue disrupted proceedings for nearly 15 minutes.Replying to the debate on the governor’s address, chief minister alleged that money was diverted in the name of “party funds” during the previous govt’s tenure. He said his govt was taking steps to ensure such revenues were routed to the state exchequer.Objecting to the remark, Udhayanidhi rose on a point of order. However, the Speaker asked him to wait, assuring him that he would be given an opportunity to seek clarification after the chief minister completed his speech.DMK whip E V Velu and other party MLAs stood up and urged the Speaker to follow assembly convention by permitting the opposition leader to raise a point of order immediately. The Speaker, however, remained firm and directed the members to take their seats.

Ruling party legislators also joined the issue, leading to animated gestures on both sides.Leader of the house K A Sengottaiyan appealed to the opposition to cooperate. PWD minister Aadhav Arjuna accused DMK of ignoring the conventions it had insisted upon on the first day of the session. He said the opposition had repeatedly demanded that the CM speak and was now agitated and unwilling to listen to him.School education minister A Rajmohan joined the debate, saying the treasury benches had remained disciplined when the opposition criticised the government and described it as a “sofa model govt”.After nearly 10 minutes, the Speaker allowed Udhayanidhi to speak. He said the CM was making allegations without evidence and challenged him to substantiate the claims. He demanded that Vijay name the party that had allegedly received the party fund.When the cm resumed his speech, DMK MLAs walked out.