CHENNAI: The first Assembly session of the newly elected TVK government commenced on Thursday with the Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar's address. After the address, the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) decided to hold the Assembly session for three days, with the debate on the motion of thanks to the Governor's Address scheduled to begin on June 22.
Governor Arlekar delivered the address in English, following which Speaker JCD Prabhakar read out its Tamil version. The House was then adjourned for the day.
Subsequently, the BAC meeting, chaired by Speaker JCD Prabhakar, discussed the duration and schedule of the Assembly session. Addressing reporters after the meeting, the Speaker said the discussion on the motion thanking the Governor for his address would commence on June 22, while the government's reply would be delivered on June 23.
He added that there would be no Question Hour during the three-day session.
The Speaker said Friday's proceedings would be devoted to condolence references for former Assembly members and senior leaders who had passed away. With Saturday and Sunday being holidays, the House would meet for a total of three days during the current session.
On the issue of live telecast of Assembly proceedings, he said no decision had been taken yet. Referring to the singing of the National Anthem twice during the inaugural proceedings, he maintained that there was nothing inappropriate about it.
Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay, Ministers N Anand, KA Sengottaiyan, R Nirmalkumar, S Rajesh Kumar (Congress) and Vanni arasu (VCK), Government Chief Whip Sabarinathan, Leader of the Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin (DMK), EV Velu (DMK), Edappadi K Palaniswami (AIADMK), OS Manian (AIADMK), Sowmiya Anbumani (PMK), R Chellaswamy (CPM), T Ramachandran (CPI) and Syed Farooq Basha (IUML) participated in the BAC meeting.