TN Assembly adjourned after condolence references

Chennai: The Tamilnadu Assembly session which was convened today amid the coronavirus pandemic was adjourned after passing condolence resolutions.

For the first time in 10 years, the Assembly session has been convened outside the Fort St George due to coronavirus.

The venue for the three-day brief session was shifted to ensure physical distancing between the legislators. The entire Kalaivanar Arangam on the Wallajah Road came under tight security in view of the Assembly session with the deployment of a large number of police personnel.

The Assembly session proceedings began at 10 am as usual. As soon as the session began Leader of Opposition in the House M K Stalin rose to raise some issues.

However, Speaker P Dhanapal denied him permission saying that only condolence resolutions will be passed today.

Following this condolence resolutions were adopted mourning the deaths of former President Pranab Mukherjee, DMK MLA J Anbazhagan, Congress MP H Vasanthakumar and those who died of coronavirus.

The House also condoled the deaths of 21 former legislators who had died since the previous Assembly session after which the House was adjourned for the day.

The session would begin with Question Hour on the next two days and the first supplementary budget would be tabled in the House on 16 September.

The principal opposition DMK was set to raise a host of issues including, demanding a resolution seeking to scrap the NEET exams in the State in the wake of four students ending their lives in the last five days, including three on Saturday alone, due to fear over clearing the NEET exams, the National Education Policy-2020 and the Centre’s move to impose three-language policy in the State, corona situation, among others.

The DMK would also raise the alleged irregularities in the PM-Kisan scheme, which came to light in several districts, apart from the alleged failure of the government in handling the corona pandemic and the fresh privilege notices issued to Stalin and 17 of his party MLAs for displaying banned gutkha products in the House in July 2017.

Though Stalin and other MLAs had filed writ pleas in the Madras High Court, the issue was expected to generate more heat in the House, apart from the coronavirus pandemic.