AIADMK members walkout of RS protesting Kanimozhi remarks

New Delhi, March 17: AIADMK members from AIADMK on Tuesday walked out of Rajya Sabha after seeking to interrupt DMK's Kanimozhi who expressed concern over the exploration of Coal Bed Methane (CBM) in Cauvery region.

Raising the CBM exploration issue during Zero Hour, Kanimozhi said it was extremely dangerous and posed a huge threat to agriculture and environment. She asked the government to stop further exploration and announce a moratorium on CBM exploration.

She said that farmers, who leased their land for CBM exploration, were unaware of the effects of the hydraulic fracturing which would destablize the eco-system and lead to chemical and radiocarbon contamination of water.

Members of AIADMK were agitated over some remarks of Kanimozhi and interrupted her speech, seeking the Chair's permission to speak on the issue.

As they continued to shout and argue against Kanimozhi and interrupt her, Deputy Chairman P J Kurien sought to mollify the upset members and promised to examine and expunge if Kanimozhi spoke anything against them or the Tamil Nadu government, but the AIADMK members .

Kanimozhi: CBM extremely dangerous and poseS a huge threat to agriculture

As the AIADMK members remained unrelenting and kept shouting, Kurien said they could either associate with the DMK member's remarks or give a separate notice if they wanted to speak against it.

Leader of AIADMK Navneet Krishnan also went into the Well in protest, but withdrew soon thereafter. Members of other Opposition parties like Congress, Left and Samajawadi Party took strong objection to the AIADMK members trying to obstruct Kanimozhi from raising the issue.

Naresh Agrawal (SP) said nobody can prevent any member in the House from raising an issue.

Noting that he has heard out Kanimozhi and she has not said anything against them or the Tamil Nadu government, Kurien declined to permit AIADMK members from speaking saying he cannot go against the procedure.

Ired by this, the AIADMK members walked out of the House.

PTI