Stalin alleges manhandling by marshalls, arrested for staging dharna at Marina
17 February, Chennai
It was a day of high drama both inside and outside the State Assembly as Leader of the Opposition and DMK Working President M K Stalin, who earlier bundled out of the House and forcibly evicted after the DMK created a ruckus, staged a sit-in dharna near the Raj Bhavan andwas arrested at Marina Beach front for staging impromptu protest, to condemn the violent incidents in the Assembly.
Soon after he came out of the Assembly with his shirt open following his forcible eviction for staging a sit-in dharna during the confidence motion moved by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami (which he subsequently won), Mr Stalin headed towards the Raj Bhavan to explain the incidents that took place in the Assembly.
Stalin also said he was ‘manhandled’ in the Assembly by the marshalls and several DMK members were also assaulted.
He along with with party MLAs, including Rajya Sabha members Kanimozhi and T K S Elangovan, and scores of DMK cadres, staged a protest demonstration in front of Raj Bhavan.
As news of Stalin’s protest went viral, DMK cadres in various parts of the state staged protests, pelted stones at buses and burnt effigies of the Assembly Speaker, leading to tension.
In several districts, shopkeepers downed their shutters following the DMK protests.
Later, DMK leaders met Governor CH Vidyasagar Rao and complained to them that Stalin was ‘manhandled’ in the House and his shirt torn by marshalls, while being evicted, besides the ill-treatment meted out to the DMK MLAs in the Assembly and urged demanded holding of another trust vote afresh with secret ballot.
A letter addressed by Stalin in this regard was also submitted to the Governor.
Later, Stalin drove down to Mahatma Gandhi statue on the Marina beachfront (where processions, meetings and agitations were banned in the wake of the recent pro-jallikattu protests), along with his supporters, and attempted to stage a dharna and appealed to all those who wanted to ‘remove’ the ‘anti-democratic’ government to converge here.
As hundreds of DMK cadres, former Union Ministers, MPs and MLAs started gathering, police denied permission for him.
Tension prevailed for a while on the beach front and through traffic was affected on the arterial road.
After heated arguments, during some DMK workers tried to erect a DMK flag mast, police arrested Stalin, along with senior party leaders,and took them to a community hall.
Talking to reporters Stalin said, the DMK would stage a massive agitation to condemn the incidents that took place in the Assembly.