Chennai, Oct 19 (IANS): AIADMK leaders, including former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Edappadi K. Palaniswami, were detained by the police at Valuvarkottam when they were trying to hold a protest against the MLAs who were denied permission for a token fast at Valluvarkottam.

AIADMK legislators led by Palaniswami were evicted from the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Tuesday while conducting protests. Assembly speaker M. Appavu denied permission to Palaniswami to speak while the business of question hour was taking place.

This infuriated the AIADMK MLAs who marched to the well of the House and shouted slogans and the Speaker directed the watch and ward to forcibly evict them. The Speaker was adamant that the MLAs would not be allowed to participate in the discussion in the House on Wednesday, but the leader of the House, S. Duraimurugan pacified the Speaker and asked him to allow the MLAs to participate in the discussions on Wednesday.

However, the AIADMK legislators decided to conduct a token fast at Valluvarkottam on Wednesday against the 'Murder of Democracy'in the Tamil Nadu Assembly. The MLAs were denied permission to conduct the protest fast at Valluvarkottam and this led to the AIADMK leaders, including Palaniswami to protest and were subsequently arrested.

The legislators were taken to the Rajarathinam Stadium in Egmore.