Clash at Coimbatre Corp
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) clashed with allies Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Communist Party of India (CPI) at the Coimbatore Corporation Council meeting on Tuesday over the Left parties’ protest against the introduction of a garbage collection fee on Monday.Councillors belonging to the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), the Communist parties, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) and the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) staged a sit-in till late Monday night to oppose the fee after the Council’s Ordinary Meeting that day.
This protest drew flak from the DMK at the Council’s Urgent Meeting on Tuesday. CPI (M) member S. Velmurugan got the second warning of eviction from Mayor R. Venkatachalam when he advanced from his seat towards the Mayor alleging murder of democracy in the Council. Mr. Velmurugan said the passing of resolutions without discussions on Monday was proof of this. The councillor was warned of eviction on Monday also when he walked up to the Mayor and accused him of running away from issues.
The sparring between the DMK and the Left parties continued for sometime over Mr. Velmurugan’s remarks. The DMK members were joined by the Mayor’s party colleagues in the Congress.The CPI’s K. Purushothaman said the councillors staged a sit-in because they did not want the Congress and the DMK to pass all the resolutions capitalising on a walkout by the other parties. He was referring to what happened at a Council meeting some months ago. “We did not want you to announce ‘all pass’ and approve all the resolutions without giving all the parties equal opportunity to debate them,” he said.
But, the situation turned into vociferous trading of charges when Leader of the Opposition and DMK member V.N. Udayakumar looked at the CPI and CPI (M) members and asked them: “Do you think we will watch you disrupt the Council proceedings with your protests? It pains to see allies attack us.”This remark triggered a protest from the Communist parties and the AIADMK. Nearly 30 minutes of the meeting were consumed by this protest. It ended when these two parties and the MDMK and DMDK staged a walkout in retaliation to the Mayor rejecting AIADMK member P. Rajkumar’s demand for a fresh discussion of the more than 50 resolutions passed on Monday.But, before they walked out no member of any of these parties made even the slightest reaction to a sharp criticism by DMK member Meena Loganathan that they were trying to create an impression among the public that her party was committing a fraud on the people.
