Police today detained Leader of Opposition Edapaddi K Palaniswami ('EPS') and other AIADMK legislators as they attempted to hold a hunger strike outside the Tamil Nadu assembly over the Speaker not removing rival faction leader O Panneerselvam ('OPS') from the Deputy Opposition Leader's seat, right next to EPS, in the House.
The EPS faction, the dominant one of two, has chosen a new Deputy Leader and also written several letters asking for OPS to be seated elsewhere. These leaders had yesterday been evicted from the House for disrupting proceedings over the issue.
Speaker M Appavu has said he's examining it: "Only the Leader of Opposition is officially recognised. The deputy leader is an internal arrangement. Members can request a seat, but no one can order me to shift a person. That's the Speaker's prerogative."
Both EPS and OPS are former chief ministers who, until their battle became public earlier this year, jointly led the AIADMK after the death of J Jayalalitha. Several aspects of their fight are in court, but the EPS faction continues to have a stronger hold.
Yesterday, speaking to reporters outside the assembly, EPS claimed the Speaker did not comply with the majority decision in the AIADMK in electing RB Udayakumar, replacing OPS, as the party's deputy leader in the state assembly.
"O Panneerselvam (OPS) and his supporters have been removed from the party. It seems the Speaker is acting on the suggestion of the ruling DMK," he said.
Throughout the chaos on Tuesday, OPS, who heads a rival AIADMK& faction, remained calmly seated next to EPS.
E Palaniswamy or 'EPS' and his supporting MLAs after being evicted from the Vidhan Sabha on Oct 18.
The Speaker disallowed any discussion on the seating during Question Hour, which is meant specifically for people's issues. He told EPS that he'd get an opportunity to raise the issue later. But EPS remained firm.
A visibly annoyed Speaker then said, "I understand you all have come with the intention to disrupt the proceedings. This is not good."
When the EPS-led AIADMK members remained standing, the Speaker warned them, and later directed the marshals to evict EPS and his MLAs.
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