'Saturday the 18th' - My View https://t.co/gMiiKwvaxu

DMK working president and Leader of the Opposition M.K. Stalin released a comprehensive video statement titled 'Saturday the 18th' on February 20, 2017, presenting an exhaustive, first-person narrative of the dramatic and contentious events that transpired inside the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly during the disputed confidence motion on February 18. Stalin stated that he felt an urgent duty to address the public directly through digital platforms to counter false administrative propaganda and present the unvarnished truth regarding how democratic procedures were brutally subverted inside the sacred legislative hall.

In his detailed address, Stalin explained that DMK legislators sought nothing more than a reasonable adjournment or a secret ballot to ensure that MLAs could vote freely without fear of retribution from factional handlers. Instead of engaging in constructive parliamentary dialogue, Speaker P. Dhanapal repeatedly adjourned proceedings, allowed police and marshals to use physical force against elected representatives, and tore Stalin's own shirt during the scuffle. The confidence motion was subsequently enacted in the complete absence of opposition members behind locked assembly gates.

The opposition leader declared that this shameful episode would be remembered as a grave betrayal of Tamil Nadu's legislative democracy.