Chennai: The much-awaited session of the Tamil Nadu Assembly is expected to be convened in the second week of January and it will begin with the address by Governor Banwarilal Purohit, sources said here on Tuesday.
Sources said the groundwork for convening the sessionhas already begun and preparatory work for the Governor’s address to the Assembly is underway.
Though finer details like the tenure of the session and its business have not been worked out yet, the sources confirmed that the Assembly would be convened in January. Usually, the first session of the Assembly in the New Year begins with Governor’s address and lasts anywhere between a week to ten days.
Usually, the first session of the Assembly in the New Year begins with Governor's address and lasts anywhere between a week to ten days. The sources said exact dates of the session would be announced in the next few days.
Provisions in the Constitution mandate that state assemblies should be convened every six month, the sources said adding that since the last budget session concluded on July 19, the assembly should meet in January. The session, once convened, will be a stormy one since the DMK and independent MLA T T V Dhinakaran, who won the R K Nagar bypoll on Sunday, are expected to demand that Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami prove his majority on the floor of the House.
The DMK and Dhinakaran have been demanding convening of the Assembly since August when 18 MLAs owing allegiance to the rebel AIADMK leader submitted letter of withdrawal of their support to the Chief Minister. Stalin had knocked at the doors of Raj Bhawan as well as the Madras High Court seeking a direction to Palaniswami to prove his majority.
Dhinakaran's maiden enter into the Assembly, his camp feels, would embolden several of his supporters within the AIADMK legislature party to openly support him and even vote against the government if a no confidence motion is brought against Palaniswami dispensation. The rebel leader has been harping onto his “sleeper cells” within the legislature party and reiterated even on Sunday that they would come out in the public during the no confidence motion.
Palaniswami won the trust vote on the floor of the assembly on February 18 amid ruckus by the DMK members who were evicted much before the voting. With only 11 legislators owing allegiance to the then rebel O Panneerselvam voting against it, the Palaniswami government won the trust vote.
