Leader of the Opposition M.K. Stalin and his party MLAs were arrested when they attempted to lay siege to the road outside the State Legislative Assembly to protest against the permission granted by the AIADMK-led Govt. to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s (VHP) ‘Rath Yatra’ to enter the State and their subsequent eviction from the Assembly premises.

Stalin went on record by registering sharp views against the VHP and its ‘Rath Yatra’ on his Facebook account, fearing that the ‘Yatra’ might create communal disturbances in the State.  Speaking in the Assembly yesterday after moving a calling attention motion, Stalin wanted the Govt. and the DGP to explain the logic behind allowing the ‘Rath Yatra’ into the State. “Who rules here: the AIADMK or the BJP?” he thundered.

Replying to him, chief-minister Edapadi K. Palaniswami said that it would be improper to politicize the ‘Ratha Yatra’, which had passed through 5 States in a peaceful manner. “We provided security to the ‘Rath Yatra’ only to ensure that no untoward incident takes place in its route,” he said. DMK MLAs refused to accept the chief-minister’s explanation and indulged in slogan-shouting.

As they continued to protest despite Speaker’s advice to take their respective seats, the Speaker ordered their ‘eviction’ by Marshalls. Once outside the premises, the DMK MLAs sat on the road along with Stalin and indulged in slogan-shouting, disrupting vehicular traffic. All the MLAs including Stalin were arrested, kept at a marriage hall in Royapet for a few hours and were later let off.