CPI hits out at DMK for abstaining from house

CHENNAI: The CPI on Tuesday accused the DMK of criticising the State budget from outside the House despite the party having an opportunity to speak on it in the Legislative Assembly.Participating in the discussion on the budget, CPI member T Ramachandran (Thali  Assembly constituency), referred to DMK chief M Karunanidhi’s statement that the budget was “filled with pages without substance”, and said that being a member of the House, the DMK chief could express his opinion in the Assembly. Also, the 23 members of the DMK could do so.  However, the DMK was giving excuses like allocation of seats and abstaining from the proceedings.“During the DMK regime, when all the AIADMK members were suspended, Jayalalithaa courageously attended the House all alone,” he said.  Also, during the previous regime, AIADMK members like Speaker D Jayakumar and Natham R Viswanathan were allotted seats at the last row. “Still, they attended the House and did their democratic duty. The stance taken by the DMK is not correct.”