Index of Opposition unity up as foes join hands

PUDUCHERRY: Sabapathy becoming speaker of the Assembly did not create as many ripples as the opposition Congress, DMK and AIADMK boycotting the legislative Assembly proceedings. In fact, the boycott created a history of sorts. Consider this - the AIADMK and the DMK, never the best of friends under any circumstances, had joined hands with regard to the boycott. Congress, too, seemed to be in agreement with the Dravidian parties.The opposition with 14 MLAs, seven from Congress, five from AIADMK and two from DMK, did not turn up for the assumption of charge of the speaker in the Assembly on Wednesday, with the entire proceedings going on minus their accumulated blessings. Even convention took a backseat with the leader of the opposition not accompanying the speaker to the podium, as is the norm. Both the DMK and the AIADMK expressed their objection to the functioning of the AINRC government led by NR, by agreeing to the boycott. “We have shown a token protest against the retrenchment of casual workers engaged by the previous government. The retrenched workers who are suffering, have our full support,” DMK legislator AMH Nazeem later told Express. AIADMK, by boycotting, has shown its objection to the conduct of the speaker election before the government had proved its majority on the floor of the house, A Anbazhagan, state secretary of the AIADMK said in a statement. The party had raised doubts about the government having a majority.However, the Congress which had roped in both AIADMK and the DMK into the boycott, was vexed with the ruling party for another reason - it doubted the neutrality of Sabapathy. “The neutral role of the speaker is vital in a democracy, but when the government is dependent on his vote, neutrality would cease to exist,” Congress MLA and former Chief Minister V Vaithilingam told Express.The ruling AINRC has 14 members and with the support of an independent has a strength of 15. However, with AINRC MLA Sabapathy becoming speaker, they have 14 members in the treasury bench, while the opposition also has 14 MLAs. Each time when voting is required on a bill or other matters, the speaker will most assuredly cast his vote in favour of the ruling party. “Under such circumstances, we cannot expect the speaker to be neutral,” he said. Further, the Congress is not satisfied with the justification of the government with regard to the retrenchment of casual workers engaged by the previous government. “A total of 12,000 beneficiaries under the old age scheme have been removed from the list. More such deletions of names are in the process. The Congress cannot accept this,” said Vaithilingam. However, the lone independent MLA VMC Sivakumar, on whose support the AINRC government is dependant for survival, participated in the Assembly proceedings and also assured that he would offer unstinted support to the AINRC government for the full five-year period.