Tamil Nadu Opposition leader and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leader Edapaddi K. Palaniswami was on Wednesday detained for an alleged hunger strike outside the state assembly to protest against what he called the "murder of democracy."
AIADMK legislators led by Palaniswami were protesting against their eviction from the House a day earlier. They also demanded that the Speaker of the House M. Appavu recognise a new Deputy leader of the party chosen by their faction.
Palaniswami and other AIADMK members were evicted from the state assembly, after the Speaker of the House M. Appavu said that they had come with an intention to 'riot' as they attempted to stage a dharna near the Chair.
Soon after the commencement of the Question hour on Tuesday, Palaniswami sought to raise an issue but the Speaker disallowed him to do so stating that no such requests can be heeded to during the Question hour. Nevertheless, Palaniswami went on to passionately pursue his speech, which led Appavu ordered House marshals to evict them.
The issue at hand was the AIADMK faction's demand that RB Udayakumar be recognised as the new deputy leader and seating arrangements be modified accordingly, to which Appavu responded by saying that he is looking into the matter. He added, "No on can order me on the seating," NDTV reported.
The incident led to a protest by Palaniswami led faction of the AIADMK and subsequently the Speaker ordered their eviction for disrupting the proceedings of the House.
"O Panneerselvam (OPS) and his supporters have been removed from the party. It seems the Speaker is acting on the suggestion of the ruling DMK," Palaniswami alleged, as he lobbied for the recognition of his new deputy, Udayakumar.
Question Hour is the first hour of a sitting session of the legislative assembly devoted to questions that Members of Parliament raise about any aspect of administrative activity central to public concerns.
(This is a developing story, further details are awaited)
