AIADMK takes on DMK, says no provision for secret ballot in Constitution

Chennai: Former minister and senior AIADMK leader Panruti S. Ramachandran on Wednesday asserted that there is no provision for secret ballot in the Constitution, both in the Assembly and Parliament and said such a voting would also be a subversion of the anti-defection law.

Talking to reporters here, Ramachandran said the functioning of the Assembly should be transparent and a secret ballot would make it impossible to take action on MLAs voting against their party. If secret ballot is allowed, some affluent person could influence the MLAs to vote against the major bills affecting them and it would be anti-democratic, besides ‘anti-people’.

Reacting to demands that the confidence vote could have been deferred by a week, he said, “If MLAs are sent to their constituency, how could they be brought back on time? If 10 of them did not return, who will take the responsibility? It is not wrong to make them stay in a resort, so that they could be together, away from threats,” he said and added that they were independent and free in the resort.

Responding to allegations that the DMK MLAs were evicted forcefully, he said when the Speaker directed them to go out of the Assembly, it is proper for them to go away. When they are adamant, refusing to go out from the House, there is nothing wrong in evicting them forcibly by policemen. The DMK should have walked out like Congress and IUML members.

“Everyone saw how the Speaker was manhandled, pushed away and verbally abused. He had gone through a painful experience and there is nothing wrong in his comments that he had been ill-treated since he is a Dalit”, the AIADMK leader said.