DMK's MK Stalin has alleged that policemen disguised as marshals illegally entered the assembly.
Images of Chennai police officers dressed as marshals during the chaos in the Tamil Nadu assembly on Saturday have been widely circulated on social media and have been held up by the opposition DMK as proof that every rule was violated that day.
The main opposition party's MK Stalin has alleged that policemen disguised as marshals illegally entered the assembly to take away opposition lawmakers evicted by Speaker P Dhanapal.
R Sudhakar, a Deputy Commissioner of Police seen in the marshals' all-white uniform, denied it. "We were given written orders by the assembly Secretary to evict DMK MLAs as they were resisting and the marshals couldn't handle them. As it is the assembly, we were asked to be in whites. There's no impersonation. I went in as Sudhakar, IPS (Indian Police Service)," he said.
A virtual free-for-all broke out in the assembly just before Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami's trust vote, with the rebel AIADMK group led by O Panneerselvam, the DMK and Congress demanding secret voting.
When the demand was rejected by the Speaker, DMK lawmakers crowded around his table, broke chairs and pulled out mics. They also shoved Mr Dhanapal, who was escorted out. Scores of policemen moved into the assembly building as the secretariat requested double the number of marshals..
The house was adjourned twice. After five hours of turbulence, the trust vote took place without any opposition member and Mr Palaniswami won with 122 votes.
Officials say marshals of the assembly are also police personnel, at least till the rank of Inspector, before they go on deputation to work under the Speaker. The difference is that they report to the Speaker and don't have the powers of the police. Officials also shared that once a policeman in khaki enters the assembly, he stops being one anymore and can report only to the Speaker.
The DMK on Monday moved court against the trust vote. It had earlier also complained to Governor C Vidyasagar Rao, who asked for a report.
A policeman entered the assembly in Chennai for the first time in 1988, amid similar drama during the floor test of the Janaki Ramachandran, whose government lasted less than a month.