DMK walks out of Assembly as Governor promises to push for dual citizenship for Lankan Tamil refugees

CHENNAI: DMK lawmakers led by party chief MK Stalin walked out of the first session of State Assembly on Monday morning citing, among others, the state government's support for the controversial amendment to the Citizenship Act, even as state Governor Banwarilal Purohit resolved to work with the Centre on dual citizenship for Lankan Tamil refugees in the state.

"This Government has supported it [CAA] and because of that, the Bill got passed into law, and because of that Sri Lankan Tamils and minorities have been betrayed," Stalin told reporters outside the State Assembly chambers. Stalin reeled off a slew of parameters symbolising maladministration by the Edappadi k Palaniswami-led state government, such as mounting loans, lowering job creation and industrial development and inaction on the release of the convicts, and so on.

Stalin had filed a submission last week to move a private resolution in the Assembly asking the Centre to withdraw the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.


Speaking inside the Assembly, Governor Purohit committed to working in the interests of Tamils irrespective of their religious affiliations, obtaining neceassry approvals for raising storage levels at the Mullaperiyar dam along Kerala, and urging the Centre to hold proceedings towards the Mekadatu balancing reservoir advanced by Karnataka.

The boycott and subsequent walk out of the Assembly by the DMK was contrary to expectations of heated debates on the citizenship issue, exemption from medical exam NEET, and the release of the seven convicts in prison for the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. Thamimum Ansari, legislator who won on an AIADMK ticket, came to Assembly in a black T-shirt with No CAA-NRC emblazoned on the garb.