Members of all opposition parties — DMK, Congress and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) — sought to raise the issue of alleged payment of cash to AIADMK (Amma) MLAs ahead of the confidence vote in the House in February on Thursday too, and when Speaker P. Dhanapal stood by his decision not to allow a debate on the subject, staged a walkout.
Soon after the Question Hour in the House, Mr. Stalin said while their case challenging the manner in which the confidence vote was conducted is pending before the Madras High Court, the issue at hand was reports in a section of the media about a sting operation related to suspected payment of money to AIADMK MLAs.
Despite his repeated requests, the Speaker refused to allow a debate on the allegations. In protest, DMK legislators led by Mr. Stalin staged a walkout against the Speaker’s decision. The DMK’s allies – Congress and IUML – followed suit.
Justifying his decision not to allow a debate in the House over the allegations, Mr. Dhanapal reiterated that allegations appearing in the media and matters pending before judicial forums would not be taken up for debate in the House.
Citing various incidents in the House in 1972, 1985, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2010 and 2011, when there were debates over media reports, the Speaker said in all those instances, it was decided against having debates on the basis of media reports. “Also, since the matter is pending before the court, I urge the opposition members to put a full stop to this,” Mr. Dhanapal reiterated.