Commotion over Ponmudi remark

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, AUG. 23. The Assembly today witnessed a slanging match between the treasury benches and the Opposition DMK following a remark by the senior DMK MLA, Mr. K. Ponmudi, about the tenure of the Jayalalithaa Government.

As the members from both sides shouted at each other, the Speaker, Mr. K. Kalimuthu, expunged the remark as also an imperative used by Mr. Ponmudi.

Trouble began when Mr. Ponmudi, by a slip of the tongue, referred to the 100 days of achievements as 100 years.

This prompted the Electricity Minister, Mr. D. Jayakumar, to point out that Mr. Ponmudi had ``acknowledged'' that the AIADMK Government would last 100 years.

To this, Mr. Ponmudi came up with a reference to the tenure of the Jayalalithaa Government. Some ruling party members were heard shouting at Mr. Ponmudi that they would ``deal with him outside''.

While Mr. Ponmudi argued with the Speaker that his remark was only a response to the ruling party members' incessant shouting, the Speaker said that since what Mr. Ponmudi said was ``outside the canons of good conduct'', he was expunging the remark.

More commotion followed with DMK members telling the Speaker that he should expunge the provocative remarks of the ruling party members too.

At a more serious level, the leader of the Opposition, Mr. K. Anbazhagan, said it was not the intention of the DMK to dislodge any Government before it completed its term.

The DMK had consistently opposed this and would continue to do so in future.

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Section  : Southern States
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