NEW DELHI: Leader of Opposition in Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Vijayakanth was unceremoniously evicted from the Assembly along with his DMDK party’s MLAs after he had a verbal duel with Chief Minister Jayaram Jayalalithaa on the floor of the House in Chennai.

The DMDK had allied with AIADMK to sweep the elections in Tamil Nadu last year. They parted ways during the civic polls.

(The DMDK had won 29 seats and pushed the erstwhile ruling party DMK of Muthuve Karunanidhi to the third position. It became the main Opposition party and Vijayakanth, its Tamil actor-turned-politician got the status of Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly).

The en masse eviction came at the end of an angry exchange of words between Jayalalithaa and Vijayakanth over the recent hike in bus fares and milk prices. This triggered a clash between members of the two parties, leading to noisy scenes.

Jayalalithaa slammed Vijayakanth for his “lowly act” as he made some gestures at treasury benches. She dubbed his conduct as “obnoxious” and regretted the tie-up with his party in the assembly polls.

“I am ashamed and regret the fact that AIADMK faced the polls with unqualified persons who don’t even know how to behave after reaching the top,” she said.

Jayalalithaa said though she did not have the “slightest inclination” for the alliance, she had bowed to her partymen’s desire for it.

Referring to Vijayakanth’s conduct during the heated exchange between members of the two parties, she said DMDK’s good times “had ended and it will be downslide from now on.”

Assembly Speaker D Jayakumar referred the behaviour of the opposition to the Privileges Committee.

Jayalalithaa described the Speaker’s action as “minimum” punishment saying their act warranted suspension from the entire session.

The Speaker later ordered eviction of all DMDK members saying their behaviour was not in line with the ethos of the House.