Tamil Nadu Assembly: DMK MLAs evicted after protest demanding exclusion of CM Vijay’s remarks on Sarkaria Commission, MISA

DMK MLAs address the media after being evicted from the Tamil Nadu Assembly in Chennai on September 8, 2026 | Photo credit: B. Jothi Ramalingam

DMK MLAs were evicted from the Tamil Nadu Assembly on the instructions of Speaker JCD Prabhakar on Tuesday (September 8, 2026) after they staged a protest sit-in and raised slogans demanding the ouster of Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on the Sarkaria Commission remarks, on the maintenance of internal security, former Marefa MuraMK’s Internal Security Act (MISA). a document prepared by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against the former DMK government.

Mr. Prabhakar made it clear that he would not delete the remarks, saying that the issues, especially the Sarkaria Commission, had been discussed several times in the House and that the Chief Minister had quoted from the ED report, which was already publicly available. “He didn’t say anything new,” he said.

As DMK MLAs insisted that the Chief Minister’s remarks be removed from the proceedings, moved to the Speaker’s chair and staged a sit-in, the Speaker said that DMK whip EV Velu could express his views on the issue. Mr. Velu raised the matter immediately after the proceedings began and demanded the acquittal of the Prime Minister’s statements.

However, the DMK MLAs remained firm on their demand. After trying to persuade them to return to their seats and for Mr. Velu to speak, the Speaker ordered the security guard and the assembly to expel them from the House. While most MLAs left the House, some were carried out. Valparai MLA Kutti alias Sudhakar resisted the eviction and created a ruckus.

Mr. Prabhakar said the Chief Minister followed the rules of the assembly and spoke with sufficient evidence.

“The DMK MLAs came to the House with a motive. Even if the party is led by a senior leader and they disrupted the House, what option do I have? Even then I gave permission to Mr. Velu to speak. I am pained by what happened today,” he said. The Speaker said that the dignity of the House should be protected and that its proceedings are watched by people all over the world.

What CM did was against House rules: DMK whip

Mr. Velu said that as per assembly rules, a minister or chief minister should limit his remarks to matters related to the departments to which he is expected to answer. “What the Chief Minister did on Monday (September 7) was against the rules of the House. We sat patiently for the first 26 minutes,” he said.

Mr. Velu also said it was unacceptable to refer or make allegations against a person who was not present in the House. He said it was unfair to drag the name of the late Murasoli Maran “who was known all over the world”.

“Our leader (MK Stalin) was arrested days after the wedding and jailed for a year. MISA (Maintenance of Internal Security Act, which was repealed in 1978) was against democracy,” he said.

Speaker of the House KA Sengottaiyan said there was nothing wrong with the Sarkaria Commission reference as it had been discussed several times in the House in the past.

PWD Minister Aadhav Arjuna alleged that CPI(M) State Secretary P. Shanmugam took exception to the Chief Minister’s remarks due to a misunderstanding.

Published – 8 September 2026 12:00 PM IST