Chennai, Feb 06: The opposition DMK and PMK staged a walkout in the Tamil Nadu Assembly today protesting against the state Health Minister Thalavai Sundaram's reference to the speech of MDMK general secretary Vaiko in parliament in support of the banned LTTE.

Intervening in a discussion on the motion of thanks to the Governor's address, Sundaram read out a statement made by Congress MP Santhosh Mohan Deb in the Lok Sabha on April 30, 2002, accusing Vaiko of being an LTTE man. To this, Vaiko had declared on the floor of the Lok Sabha that he was a supporter of the LTTE and would continue to be so ''today and tomorrow.''
At this juncture, the DMK members raised objection and asked the Speaker K Kalimuthu not to permit Sundaram to read the statement. Leader of the opposition K Anbazhagan said the Speaker should not permit the statement to be read as the case against Vaiko was still pending in the special court. Any discussion in the assembly about the act under which Vaiko had been arrested would affect the case, he added. State Education Minister S Semmalai pointed out that since Vaiko's statement had already been recorded in parliament, there was nothing wrong in reading out the statement in the assembly. To this, Anbazhagan said though parliament speeches could be discussed in the assembly, this particular statement should not be read as it would affect the proceedings of the case. However, Kalimuthu said he had already permitted Sundaram to read the statement that was made much before the Prevention of Terrorism Act had been enacted in parliament. Following this, the DMK members raised slogans against the Speaker and walked out of the house. Soon, the PMK MLAs, led by legislature party leader G K Mani, followed suit. The DMK members shouted slogans against the Speaker in the lobby after which the Speaker directed the marshals to evict them from the place. Bureau Report