DMK walks out of Tamil Nadu Assembly, says not satisfied with CM’s reply on RK Nagar bypoll case

"We raised RK Nagar bypoll bribery issue, CM said that investigation has been ordered. He didn't give a proper answer," said MK Stalin, DMK Working President.

Chennai, June 19: The political turmoil in Tamil Nadu continues. DMK Working President MK Stalin and other party MLAs walked out of the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Monday after expressing dissatisfaction over Chief Minister E Palaniswami’s reply on RK Nagar bypoll irregularities. The Congress also walked out of the House over the issue. “We raised RK Nagar bypoll bribery issue, CM said that investigation has been ordered. He didn’t give a proper answer,” said MK Stalin.

Earlier on Saturday, the Election Commission asked the Tamil Nadu chief electoral officer to lodge a police case over the alleged bribery of voters in R K Nagar assembly segment, the poll panel has said in reply to a query under transparency law. The bypoll slated for April 12 was cancelled following allegations of large-scale distribution of money to voters, entailing raids by the tax authorities.

The ECI said it had directed the CEO, Tamil Nadu on April 18 to ask the RK Nagar returning officer to file a complaint with police for bribing the voters.

The DMK had on Saturday also petitioned Tamil Nadu Governor C Vidyasagar Rao to order a fresh Vote of Confidence in the state assembly and order a probe by agencies under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Several senior leaders of the principal opposition party met Rao and submitted a representation to him in the wake of a media sting in which an AIADMK legislator allegedly states that lawmakers were offered gold and large sums of money to vote in favour of Chief Minister K Palaniswami during the confidence vote.

The representation signed by Stalin states, “Only such an effective intervention, at the earliest, by the Governor will save democracy from being in the hands of a government whose Chief Minister has been elected under dubious circumstances and won the constitutionally mandated vote of confidence by dishonest means.”