Amid acrimonious scenes, all AIADMK members present in the Tamil Nadu assembly on Wednesday were suspended en masse till April 9 by Speaker R Avudiayappan after they were evicted from the House.
Opposition Leader J Jayalalithaa was not present in the House when it plunged into pandemonium triggered by certain remarks by a ruling DMK member against AIADMK.
Anita Radhakrishnan, who had quit AIADMK last year to join the DMK, made the remarks during a debate on the budget, enraging the opposition members.
They were more agitated after the Speaker expunged certain remarks made by AIADMK's K A Sengottaiyan in response to Radhakrishnan.
Repeated pleas by the Chair to maintain decorum fell on deaf ears, prompting him to order eviction of AIADMK MLAs G Hari and Arulmozhithevan, which was resented by their party colleagues who squatted before the Speaker's podium and started raising slogans against him.
At this point, the Speaker summoned the marshals to evict the AIADMK members.
Later, Finance Minister and Leader of the House K Anbazhagan alleged that the AIADMK members had deliberately disturbed the House proceedings and urged the Speaker to suspend them till April 9 when the discussion on budget ends.
Subsequently, Avudaiyappan announced suspension of the AIADMK members, saying their behaviour was not in keeping with the ethos and traditions of the House. PTI
