Tamil Nadu’s Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan is set to present the Budget for 2023-24 in the State Legislative Assembly in Chennai on March 20 — the first day of the Assembly session.
In this session, the Tamil Nadu Government may be expected to table among others, the second Bill to impose a ban on online games, as the Governor returned the first — Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Bill, questioning the legislative competence of the House.
An announcement regarding a welfare programme to grant monthly assistance of ₹1,000 to women heads of families could be expected this session, as Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, during his campaign for Erode (East) bypoll last month, had said such an announcement would be made in the next State Budget.
The Finance Minister would also present the vote on account for the first few months of 2023-24 and the final supplementary estimates for 2022-23 in the House on March 28. After the presenting of Budget in the House on March 20, the Business Advisory Committee would meet later in the day to decide the duration of the sitting.
Since Speaker M. Appavu has maintained the issue over the seating for former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam in the House as a “settled” matter, he could be expected seated next to AIADMK interim general secretary and former Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami in the House.
DMK partymen’s forcible entry over an intra-party feud into a police station in Tiruchi district, injuring a policewoman, incidents of rowdyism such as the assault of a woman walker in Tiruchi are among the issues expected to be raised by the opposition parties in the House this session.
The absence of about 50,000 Class 12 students in the Board exams, the outbreak of a flu and related illness, especially among school students, the issue over the linking of Aadhaar ID with electricity connections, demands of milk farmers supplying to Aavin and the alleged attempt to privatise bus operations in Chennai city may also be taken up by the opposition parties.
While the DMK-Congress combine could be expected to boast the win in Erode East by-poll to contend the people’s support remained with them, the feud between Mr. Panneerselvam and Mr. Palaniswami in light of Sunday’s High Court order and the rising tensions between the AIADMK with its ally BJP may reflect in the the House.
