Kangana Ranaut's Thalaivi Trailer Reminds Of Assembly Assault On Jayalalithaa In 1989

Assembly Assault On Jayalalithaa: The Tamil Nadu Assembly Assault on Jayalalithaa was shown in a release trailer for actor Kangana Ranaut’s biopic Thalaivi. Thalaivi is based on the life of late politician J Jayalalithaa.

32 years ago on March 25, 1989, Jayalalithaa from the opposition was assaulted at the Tamil Nadu Assembly. The then Chief Minister M Karunanidhi had been pushed to the ground by the opposition All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) MLAs. To retaliate against the party, their leader Jayalalithaa’s saree was pulled and she was pushed by the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leaders.

What Happened In Tamil Nadu Assembly in 1989?

Two weeks before the assembly assault on Jayalalithaa took place, a case of cheating had been filed against Natarajan, a close aide of Jayalalithaa. Natarajan’s place of residence was raided by the police and Jayalalithaa threatened to resign. After her letter to the Speaker was leaked to the press, she launched an attack on the Karunanidhi government. She alleged that her phone had been tapped and the police responded in a high-handed manner at the request of the ruling party DMK.

Jayalalithaa insisted upon moving a breach of privilege motion against Karunanidhi over the alleged tapping of her phones. Her demand for the moving privilege motion was even supported by Congress. She stated that a person charged with “criminal acts” should not be allowed to present the Budget. Karunanidhi responded by making personal remarks at Jayalalithaa while he covered the microphone on his desk. The remarks led to rising anger from Jayalalithaa and party MLAs, which led to many of the MLAs rushing towards Karunanidhi.

An AIADMK MLA pushed a bench, which then hit Karunanidhi and caused him to lose his balance and fall to the floor. Chaos overtook the Tamil Nadu Assembly and Karunanidhi later stated that Jayalalithaa “directed her party MLA to punch me and Sengottaiyan hit my face and broke my spectacles.”

The assembly assault on Jayalalithaa took place when she exited the Assembly hall. The DMK MLAs rushed towards her in retaliation and pulled her saree. Jayalalithaa stated that the DMK MLAs “all concentrated on me and directed blows on my head”. She added that one of the DMK ministers caught hold of her saree and pulled. Due to which the safety pin gave way and caused bleeding injuries.

According to reports, DMK’s Durai Murugan was the person who caught hold of her saree and caused Jayalalithaa’s fall.