The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly witnessed dramatic scenes on Wednesday, the last day of the session, when Leader of the Opposition M.K. Stalin, and a few DMK MLAs waved sachets of gutkha that have been banned in the State, leading to a ruckus.
Enraged by the action of the DMK members, Speaker Dhanapal said he would recommend the matter to the Privileges Committee, as their action [bringing a banned substance] constituted “a breach of privilege of the House”.
A visibly angry Chief Minister, Edappadi K. Palaniswami, hit out at the DMK members who were up on their feet waving the sachets of the banned tobacco product. Mr. Stalin, who first waved pictures of shops selling gutkha, opened a file he was carrying, and pulled out large sachets of gutkha products.
The Chief Minister, who spoke amidst the din, said it was the duty of the DMK MLAs to have turned in the banned products to police officers, so that necessary action could have been taken. Mr. Stalin said the AIADMK government “was not doing things they had to do and were doing things they were not supposed to do”. Following this, he said, “In Chennai, gutkha is being sold openly in many shops. I have brought it here with me to prove it.” As if on cue, a number of DMK MLAs pulled out sachets of gutkha and started waving it.
‘Bid to tarnish govt.’
“How did these members get the banned products? It is wrong and a crime to bring banned substances in to the Assembly. They should have taken it to the police,” an agitated Chief Minister said. Mr. Palaniswami alleged “they (DMK) just want to bring disrepute to the AIADMK government”.
At this point, Speaker Dhanapal warned the DMK that he would take strict action against those who had brought the banned items into the Assembly. A few minutes later, he said, “This is a breach of privilege. I will refer it to the Privileges Committee for appropriate action,” he said.
The Chief Minister targeted Mr. Stalin and said that if he was a responsible Leader of Opposition, he would know how to conduct himself in the Assembly. At this point, Mr. Stalin and the DMK walked out of the Assembly. Mr. Stalin left the packets of the banned products on his table while walking out.
Earlier, detailing the number of cases filed against those selling banned products like gutkha, pan masala and Hans, the Chief Minister said a total of 1,962 persons had been arrested since 2013. In 2013, 98 persons were arrested; in 2014, 318 arrests were made; in 2015, 744 persons were arrested; and in 2016, 398 were arrested. In 2017, till June 30, as many as 404 persons were arrested for selling these banned products, he said.