UNI

Chennai, Sep 1: Pandemonium broke out in the Tamil Nadu assembly for a brief time, but an ugly turn of events was averted thanks to the timely intervention of Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.

AIADMK members, irked by a remark by a ruling party member against MJayalalithaa, rushed to the well of the House with former Minister D Jayakumar, staging a dharna, squatting in front of the Speaker's podium, but the tense situation was quickly defused, following Karunanidhi's intervention.

The trouble started when Gandhi (DMK), participating in the debate, alleged that the Public Works Department was misused to lay roads for the wedding of Jayalalithaa's estranged foster son, triggering a bout of protest from the AIADMK benches.

Intervening, Karunanidhi said, whatever Gandhi said during the fag end of his speech was totally unnecessary and those remarks could be expunged. After requesting the Speaker to expunge the remarks, he appealed to the AIADMK members to help to continue the proceedings in a smooth manner.