The Chennai Police on Wednesday arrested All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) interim general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami and other Opposition leaders from Chennai’s Valluvar Kottam monument for staging protests despite being denied permission, The Indian Express reported.
According to the report, the Opposition leaders were taken in a bus to Rajarathinam Stadium at Egmore. Clad in black, AIADMK members arrived at the protest site on Wednesday, and raised slogans against the DMK, as they continued their protests against the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Speaker M Appavu over the allotment of the deputy leader of the Opposition chair in the Assembly.
On Tuesday on the second day of the Assembly session, the AIADMK leaders were evicted from the House after they created a ruckus over sitting arrangements.
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Edappadi Palaniswami and O Paneerselvam, popularly known as EPS and OPS respectively, who have been involved in bitter rivalry after the AIADMK party was ousted from power by the DMK in 2021, had been seated next to each other in the front row.
The EPS faction had submitted representations to the Speaker to replace OPS with R B Udhayakumar as the Opposition’s deputy leader, even demanding the expulsion of OPS and MLAs in support of him.
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The Speaker then asked the AIADMK MLAs to be seated saying they would be given a clarification. However, the ruckus went on and despite giving repeated warnings, when the ruckus did not stop, Speaker Appavu ordered floor marshals to remove the EFS faction from the hall, IE reported.
Meanwhile, following EPS’ arrest, AIADMK members in other districts indulged in road blockades and also raised slogans against the ruling MK Stalin-led DMK government.