CHENNAI: Going by precedents and the present political scenario, DMK president M Karunanidhi, who has been elected for the record 12th time to the State Assembly, is likely to skip proceedings of the 14th Assembly.
The reasons are quite obvious. The decision of the AIADMK government to shift the Assembly hall as well as the Secretariat from the new Assembly-cum-Secretariat complex at Omandurar Government Estate — which was constructed to mark Karunanidhi’s completion of 50 years as a legislator — has offended the DMK patriarch. Besides, the Central Classical Library set up under his personal guidance has also been relocated.
DMK president M Karunanidhi may decide not to attend the session of the 14th State Assembly in keeping with precedents set in the past and the political scenario of the present. The former CM’s 62-year-old Dravidian party, DMK, has lost the opportunity to become the main opposition party, making way for a fledgling DMDK to take over the mantle by virtue of more number of seats won.
Moreover, Karunanidhi took personal interest in the construction of the new Assembly complex and got it inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the presence of UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on March 13, 2010, but newly appointed CM J Jayalalithaa has moved the Secretariat back to Fort St George.
MK may leave the task of heading the DMK to senior party leader Durai Murugan and is unlikely to attend the proceedings of the House.
MK not only one to skip Assembly
In the past, many leaders have stayed away for political reasons. In 1972, after tumultuous incidents that occurred in the Assembly due to parallel sessions led by then Speaker K A Mathialagan and deputy P Seenivasan, AIADMK founder M G Ramachandran left the House in a huff saying, “Satta sabhai sethu vittadhu (Legislative Assembly is dead)” and vowed to reenter it only as CM of the State. Fulfilling his vow, MGR entered the House only after becoming the Chief Minister in 1977.
In 1991, the DMK faced the worst electoral rout. MK and Parithi Ellamvazhuthi were the only two victorious candidates. Later, Karunanidhi resigned his membership and he did not come to the Assembly for the next five years. In the 2001 Assembly polls, the AIADMK returned to power.
Though the DMK won in 31 seats, Karunanidhi did not attend Assembly proceedings till 2006. Again in 2006, the DMK returned to power. During this period, Jayalalithaa attended the House on select occasions. After the Assembly was shifted to Omandurar Government Estate, she did not attend the proceedings.
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