Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MLAs will not attend the ongoing Legislative Assembly session from Monday as they have to be with the people of their constituencies who are in constant fear of the COVID-19, party president and Opposition leader M.K. Stalin said.
The Assembly session will be held till March 31, though the original plan was to conduct it till April 9.
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In a letter to the Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker P. Dhanapal, Mr. Stalin said the boycott would draw the government’s attention to the need for taking preventive and precautionary measures to tackle the pandemic.
Recalling Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar’s tweet that nine people had been tested positive for the disease 19 in Tamil Nadu since it was first traced in Kancheepuram on March 9, Mr. Stalin said nine people tested positive in 12 days and 8,950 persons had been quarantined. “This has created the doubt whether we were wasting the golden hours to combat the disease,” he said.
The DMK leader pointed out that the Centre had already cancelled examinations in schools and directed only 50% of the B and C category employees to report for work. “It will be in force till April 4. Janata Curfew was observed till Monday morning (in Tamil Nadu),” he said.
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Pointing out that three districts — Chennai, Kancheepuram and Erode — had been included in the list of districts to be ‘locked down’ as per the advisory of the Centre, the DMK leader said debating in the Assembly would not be in the interest of the people when the entire world had decided that “distancing” was very important.
“It is said that out government did not learn anything from China and Italy; the two countries failed to act even though they were aware of the disease,” he said.
Mr. Stalin said the government refused to pay heed to his request to adjourn the Assembly and was conducting it against the advise of the Centre.
Congress and IUML legislators also boycotted the session on Monday.
