TN Assembly adopts resolution against revival of Upper House

Moving the resolution, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa alleged that DMK had sought to revive the Upper House only with the intention of "giving posts to family members and other supporters" of DMK chief Karunanidhi.

The resolution was adopted with 200 of the 234 members voting in its favour after the Congress and DMK members had staged a walkout on the issue of introducing uniform education system in the state.

Jayalalithaa said while Karunanidhi had made his son M K Stalin Deputy Chief Minister and his other son M K Alagiri and grand-nephew Dayanidhi Maran central ministers besides making daughter Kanimozhi a Rajya Sabha MP, he wanted the Council so as to accommodate other family members and party supporters.

Last year, the Assembly had adopted the then DMK government resolution for reviving the Legislative Council.

The PMK, which is part of the DMK-led front, opposed the AIADMK government's move. Opposition leader Vijayakanth (DMDK) was not present during the voting.

Speaker D Jayakumar said with two-thirds of the members supporting the resolution, it has been passed.

The AIADMK's stated policy is against the Council, which Jayalalithaa reiterated today and recalled that it was her mentor and AIADMK founder late M G Ramachandran who had first abolished the Upper House as Chief Minister in 1986.

Since taking over the reins of administration, the Jayalalithaa government has reversed several of the DMK regime's pet projects, including scrapping housing and insurance schemes named after Karunanidhi besides announcing a probe into alleged irregularities in the construction of new Assembly-cum-secretariat complex.