Chennai, June 22 (Inditop.com) Proceedings in the Tamil Nadu assembly Monday were marked by repeated walk-outs by opposition members who complained that they were not being given sufficient time to talk on important issues.
Protesting over Speaker R. Avudaiyappan’s ruling that there was nothing objectionable in a proverb quoted by Agriculture Minister Veerapandi S. Arumugham Friday, AIADMK members staged a walk out soon after the house assembled.
Later, members of the entire opposition – AIADMK, PMK, MDMK, Communist Party of India (CPI) and Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) – walked out of the house, complaining that they were not given sufficient time to talk on important issues.
The house later saw heated arguments between Congress Legislature Party Leader D. Sudharsanam and AIADMK members on one side and Public Works and Law Minister Durai Murugan, who was replying to the demand for grants for his department, on the other.
Reacting to Murugan’s statement that the government was taking stringent measures to curb sand mining in the river beds, Sudharsanam said thousands of lorries illegally transport sand from Tamil Nadu to Kerala and Karanataka.
Citing a decision taken in an all party meeting on curbing the illegal sand mining, he asked the minister when the government would take action on the matter.
Deputy leader of the opposition O. Pannerselvam (AIADMK) alleged that the ruling party members were earning money from sand smuggling, but Murugan, in turn, accused the AIADMK members of being involved in the activity.
The proceedings Monday also saw Deputy Chief Minister M.K. Stalin introduce the Tamil Nadu Metro Planning Commission Law Bill, for setting up of a planning commission for Chennai and implementation of its recommendations.
He also introduced an amending bill for regularising the property tax and laws governing municipalities on the recommendation of the State Finance Commission.
rounak