Anbazhagan walks out, chiding party MLAs

By Radha Venkatesan

CHENNAI, AUG. 20. The Opposition DMK was in for a major embarrassment in the Assembly today as the sharp rift between the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. K. Anbazhagan, and his DMK colleagues, came to the fore.

Leaving the DMK MLAs in complete dismay, Mr. Anbazhagan virtually hit a ``self-goal'', when he walked out of the House, rebuking them for their behaviour.

(Later, the DMK president, Mr. M. Karunanidhi, denied any differences among the DMK MLAs. ``The DMK and the Assembly party are the same,'' he said. It was not uncommon for some MLAs to remain on their feet even after the leader of the party had asked them to resume their seat, he added.)

Amid the acrimonious sparring by the DMK and the AIADMK members, a curious sub-plot unfolded with Mr. Anbazhagan visibly disagreeing with his party MLAs' behaviour.

As the AIADMK members were on their feet demanding an apology from Mr.Ilamvazhuthi, the DMK MLAs, barring Mr. Anbazhagan and Mr. M. K. Stalin, vociferously countered, leading to a ruckus. When the din peaked, Mr. Anbazhagan asked his party members to resume their seat. While most of them responded to his plea, Mr. M. R. K. Paneerselvam, defiantly stood his ground, prompting Mr. Anbazhagan to walk out with a stinging remark: ``you manage the House on your own''.

An agitated Mr. Stalin rushed out to pacify him, even as the embarrassed DMK members staged a walk-out on the pretext of protesting the suspension of Mr. Ilamvazhuthi.

However, this is not the first time the aggression of the not-so- senior DMK MLAs has come in conflict with the ``spirit of restraint'' shown by Mr. Anbazhagan. Even during the budget presentation on Saturday, while Mr. Anbazhagan signalled to his party MLAs to silently walk out, they left only after shouting slogans against the Government for a while.

Later, talking to the media, the Speaker, Mr. K. Kalimuthu complimented Mr. Anbazhagan on his ``dignified conduct''. But his partymen were disobeying him and creating a ruckus in the Assembly, the Speaker said.

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Section  : Southern States
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