Second Cabinet meet to discuss budget details today

“The second meeting of the state Cabinet will be held on Tuesday in which important decisions on the state budget will be taken. The date for presenting budget, number of days to be allotted for budget session and important projects to be cleared are expected to be discussed in the Cabinet meeting,” said Secretariat sources.

The first Cabinet meeting of the year was conducted on January 20 and in the meeting, clearance was accorded for projects worth Rs 50,000 in the state. The meeting was held at the time when agitations against Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) was at the peak and the Ministers were asked not to speak against CAA and to adopt the stand of the Centre on the issue.

However, in the second meeting two more issues, including the recent controversial comments of state Dairy Minister KT Rajenthra Bhalaji linking Muslims with terrorists are likely to be discussed.

“Recently, Dairy Minister Rajenthra Bhalaji has been involved in a controversy and despite earlier warnings, Rajenthra Bhalaji continued to speak against Muslims on the CAA issue. The issue will likely crop up again and Minsters will be asked to refrain from giving controversial comments,” said sources.

Also, the state Cabinet will discuss about conducting elections for urban local bodies. “The Cabinet is expected to take important decision whether to conduct elections for urban local bodies before or after the budget session. As the AIADMK government is still not fully ready for urban local body elections it might get postponed after the demand on grants session,” said sources.