A month-long session of the Tamil Nadu Assembly will begin here on Thursday in which a host of issues including the Mullaperiyar row with Kerala and attacks on Indian fishermen by Sri Lankan Navy are expected to figure.
Besides the Mullaperiyar problem, the Cauvery dispute with Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s proposal to construct check dam across river Palar are also expected to come up during the coming days.
During the debate on grants for the respective departments, the Opposition parties are likely to raise a slew of issues, including power and drinking water supply even as the ruling AIADMK will counter them with a newfound vigour against the backdrop of its splendid show in the Lok Sabha polls.
This is the first session of the State Assembly after the April 24 polls where the Jayalalithaa-led party decimated the opposition parties clinching 37 of 39 Lok Sabha seats in the state preceded by political realignments including AIADMK parting ways with former allies, the Left parties.
AIADMK’s strength in the 234-member House has gone up by one to 151, with the ruling party winning the April 24 Alandur bypoll, earlier held by former DMDK leader, Panrutty S Ramachandran. Having quit on health grounds, he later joined the AIADMK.
