Chennai, Feb 04: The entire Opposition, barring the BJP, staged a walkout from the Tamil Nadu assembly on Wednesday, even before the Governor PS Ram Mohan Rao started delivering his customary annual address.
As soon as the Governor arrived in the house to deliver his address, the Leader of the Opposition, K Anbazhagan, said DMK MLAs were boycotting the house, as the government had not taken any steps to mitigate the sufferings of the people.
He said, Tamil Nadu was reeling under severe water shortage and all the democratic rights of the people were being 'trampled on.' The state had also not taken any steps to get it's due share of Cauvery river water.
He was followed out by S R Balasubramaniam (Congress), G K Mani (PMK), H Hemachandran (CPI-M) and G Palancichamy of the CPI.
After the opposition members staged a walkout, the governor started delivering his address at 11.10 am.
Earlier, PMK MLAs, led by its President GK Mani, cycled all the way to the secretariat from the MLA's hostel, a distance of over three km.
Mani later told reporters that they had taken this decision as the environment in the city was highly polluted. They would continue to cycle to the secretariat till the end of the session, he said. Bureau Report