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N Sathiya Moorthy in Chennai
Pandemonium prevailed for a while in the Tamil Nadu assembly on Tuesday, when the entire opposition attempted to raise the alleged malpractices committed by the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Monday's byelections in two wards of the Chennai City Corporation.
At one stage, members nearly came to blows, but seniors from both sides intervened, to defuse the situation.
The entire opposition later staged a walkout, after Speaker K Kalimuthu denied permission for them to raise the byelection issue. While the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam members squatted in the well of the House, demanding permission for raising the issue, some AIADMK legislators were seen rushing towards them.
Some of them were also engaged in heated arguments.
Significantly, for the first time in this assembly, Congress party, Tamil Maanila Congress and the Communist parties joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in the DMK-led walkout.
The PMK, the Congress Democratic Forum and the Dalit Panthers joined in.
Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, who was not present in the House at the time, later intervened in Finance Minister C Ponnaiyan's continued reply to the Budget debate, taunting the DMK that the National Democratic Alliance would be too willing to jettison the party.
"The BJP will not face any problems if the DMK quit, but would only feel good-riddance," she said.
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