Mathematical row over minority status

Chennai, July 31: Frequent remarks by Leader of the Opposition and AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa that the DMK government was a 'minority', triggered noisy scenes in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, prompting leader of the House and Finance Minister K Anbazhagan to dare her to move a no confidence motion.

Irked over by her repeated remarks, Mr Anbazhagan said the government was not a minority as it enjoyed the support of 163 MLAs.

''If the Leader of the Opposition has enough evidence to prove that the government is minority, she can bring in a no confidence motion to pack off the government. Till then it is a majority government,'' he asserted.

Since the DMK did not have the requisite number of 118 MLAs on its own, it was only heading a minority government. ''We will not accept your version,'' Ms Jayalaltihaa said, participating in the debate on the Budget.

She was attending the House for the first time after she was formally elected as the Leader of the Opposition.

Intervening, Higher Education Minister K Ponmudy objected to her remarks of describing the government as 'minority' and said she was weak in mathematics despite having studied in Churchpark convent and did not know that the government has the support of 163 MLAs.

This prompted vociferous protest from the AIADMK benches and Ms Jayalalithaa retorted saying she had secured 200 out of 200 in mathematics in her Matriculation exams.

''I am not weak in maths. My assertion that the government is minority in nature is correct as it is being supported by the coalition parties'', she added.

''If the coalition parties had joined the government it could not be called a minority'', Ms Jayalalithaa said, prompting Mr Anbazhagan to dare her to move a no-confidence motion to prove her charge.

When Speaker R Avudaiyappan asked her to switch over to the next subject, a visibly upset Ms Jayalalithaa said ''how can we accept their version. The DMK did not have 118 MLAs on its own. It is only a minority Government'', she asserted. Mr Ponmudy said the Opposition members were bent upon creating trouble in the House and Speaker too warned off action against a couple of AIADMK members for rising from their seats repeatedly.

Raising a point of order, Mr Sivapunniyam (CPI) said the DMK had taken the responsibility of forming the Government with the outside support of the coalition partners and it could not be termed as a minority Government.

As the noisy debate continued, with Ms Jayalalithaa and Mr Anbazhagan virtually engaged in a wordy duel; the Speaker told K A Sengottayan (AIADMK) that he should not gesticulate at the Minister.

Earlier, Ms Jayalalithaa described the budget as a mirage and said it provided nothing new for the people. ''It's like the fireworks burst during Deepavali festival, which looks bright in the sky, before it falls into the earth as ash'', she claimed.

The budget, portraying a revenue deficit of Rs 1129.23 crore, would further push the State financially backward, she said reeling out statistics to substantiate her charge.

UNI