When Tamil Nadu Speaker J.C.D. Prabhakar, who had come to Dindigul to attend a private event, met the press and spoke, he said, “Generally, in election history, the chances of victory have so far come on the basis that our constituency will benefit only by voting for the ruling party.
Because when there is a party in power, if people vote for the ruling party instead of voting for another party, it will be useful for our constituency—that kind of thinking among the people has continued in Tamil Nadu politics, as you all know.
As the Speaker, one hour is allotted for Question Hour. During that time, it has been customary to send the questions to the respective departments and obtain answers so they can be given in response to the questions. They can also be provided in the House. If there is some delay in the next stage, it has also been customary to send the answers to the member who asked the question.
This time, I wanted to do something new—namely, to mention it, that is, to record it, and to ensure that many members get to speak. I was informed in the House itself that members of the Legislative Assembly coming from many constituencies had previously been denied that opportunity.
When many people are given the opportunity to speak, those who want to speak for the first time suddenly raise questions about their constituencies when no one expects them to. When such questions are raised, there were some difficulties for the ministers in immediately contacting the officials concerned with that department from within the House itself and getting an immediate response.
However, many ministers obtained answers to their respective questions immediately, even before the proceedings ended, and you would have seen many ministers responding both in the House itself and through detailed reports, by answering the questions.
Under a system called the remaining registration, equal opportunity was given to all members, and especially a much larger amount of time was allotted to members belonging to the opposition parties for registration and mention. Through this new approach, we created a new situation unprecedented in the history of the Legislative Assembly, with everyone’s cooperation. In that way, the answers for those who registered could not be obtained immediately.
But the practice of sending the relevant answer to those who recorded or mentioned it in the House, namely the ministers in charge of the respective departments, has been continuing all along.
Therefore, it is not just this 15% or 20%; the government is in a position to answer the questions of all members, and when they continue to write replies on behalf of their departments, everyone will come to know that.
I am not aware of any party having accused me of acting in a biased manner. I am stating that there is no such situation in the Legislative Assembly. This first session has concluded successfully in a very democratic manner. Such complaints were not raised in the House, nor were they raised outside it.
The reports that have come to me have been ones praising me. That is what has been brought to my attention. If there is any such shortcoming and it is pointed out, it would be helpful to correct it and also provide an opportunity to do so.
No note came, no slip came. I am not someone who bows to any note or slip. I bow only to fate. I will listen only to the voices of the members.
As for the note slip, for example, the Chief Minister spoke at length about the MISA case. Notes about it had already been mentioned in this House. If such things had been mentioned, if they had been spoken about, if there were notes, then all of them should be taken and given to me—I sent word immediately after the Chief Minister finished speaking. That note slip was the only one that came into my hand.
In these years, in this very House, there have been discussions about who was arrested, how they were arrested, and why they were arrested in connection with this very MISA, and I was given a note stating that it went on for so many hours. That note is all that came into my hands; no one has issued me any order as to who should speak or should not speak in the House, and I state that no one will issue such an order to me either.
Even now, a verdict has come regarding the disqualification of the AIADMK MLA. As the next step, this House is in a position to abide by the court’s verdict in the appeal. I would like to state that all decisions will be taken only in accordance with the Assembly rules and within my authority,” he said.