The first session of the Legislative Assembly will commence on Tuesday without the customary address by the Lieutenant Governor.
The Business Advisory Committee (BAC) of the house which met on Monday decided to hold the session for two days.
The session would commence at 11 a.m with obituary references to former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Jayalalithaa, former Speaker of Puducherry V. M .C Sivakumar and Deputy Speaker A.V. Sreedharan.
The second day would witness adoption of amendment bills, including Value Added Tax and judicial matters, sources said.
The session would take up discussion of drought and may pass a resolution seeking additional funds from the Union Government.
Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi had evinced her interest in addressing the first session. She had even written to Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy expressing her interest in addressing the session.
The Chief Minister on his part had asked the Lieutenant Governor to send the written speech for the Cabinet to approve, however instead she wrote to the Speaker requesting him to take up discussion of the dire financial state of affairs of the Union Territory.
“The BAC has not discussed about the address by the Lt. Governor or about the discussion on the message sent by Ms Bedi,” said a legislator.
There had been precedence in the past where the first session of the Assembly had commenced with an address by the Lt Governor. “It is only a custom and not a rule,” said the legislator.
Political circles have been keenly watching whether the house would give room for the Lt Governor to address the session given the ongoing spat between the two constitutional heads.
