Tension prevailed at the secretariat complex here on Thursday when the Opposition DMK legislators, who were suspended from attending the House proceedings for one week, staged a protest and tried to forcibly enter the Assembly premises.
The high drama at Fort St George, where the secretariat is located, began after DMK MLAs, led by their leader M K Stalin, confronted the security personnel and sought entry into the Assembly.
This resulted in arguments between the DMK members and the watch and ward staff, and a near stampede like situation prevailed. After their failed attempt, Stalin and his MLAs started raising slogans against Speaker P Dhanapal, who issued the suspension order on Wednesday.
There were no untoward incidents as a large police force was deployed at the secretariat. Even when the issue was raised in the Assembly by the Congress and eight DMK members, who were absent in the House on Wednesday, Dhanapal said the suspension could not be revoked. DMK president M Karunanidhi attended the session just once a few days ago to sign the register.
The 80 DMK MLAs, including Stalin, were suspended for one week for creating ruckus and stalling the proceedings. The DMK has 89 members in the 234-member Assembly.
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