Governor to address House today

In his address, the Governor was expected to outline some of the welfare measures of the AIADMK government headed by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, especially with the Lok Sabha elections round the corner.

After the Governor’s address, the Business Advisory Committee would meet at Speaker P Dhanapal’s Chamber to decide on the duration of the session. The session was likely to last a week.

The session was expected to be stormy as the Opposition–led by the DMK would be raising a host of issues, including the Mekedatu project, relief works in Cyclone Gaja hit districts, the controversial Sterlite issue, especially in the wake of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) setting aside the Tamil Nadu Government Order on closure of the Copper Smelter plant at Thoothukudi and allowing the Vedanta group to reopen it.

The multi-crore Gutkha scam in which the residences of Health Minister C Vijaya Baskar were raided by the I-T department and the CBI, was also expected to dominate the session.

The Opposition was also expected to raise the issue regarding the delay in the release of seven life convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case by the Governor even after the Cabinet’s resolution.