TN budget session from tomorrow, expects to be stormy

The Budget session of the Tamil Nadu Legislative beginning here tomorrow, was expected to be a stormy one, with the Opposition gearing up to raise a host of issues, including the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and a resolution on declaring Cauvery delta region as a 'Protected Agricultural Zone' (PAZ) to prevent Centre from setting up hydrocarbon projects.

The session would commence with the presentation of Budget by Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, who also holds the Finance portfolio, after which 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 one week after which the House would assemble again to take up the demand for grants for various departments.

This would be for the 10th time Mr Panneerselvam would be presenting the budget, who had served as the Finance Minister since May 2011, barring a six month period in 2017, when he was not part of the Cabinet and Fisheries Minister, holding the Finance Portfolio had presented the budget then.

This would also be the ruling AIADMK's last full-fledged budget before the Assembly elections due in May next year and it was expected to loaded with a host of 'populist schemes', aimed at wooing the voters ahead of the polls.

With Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman promising to release the State's GST dues in two instalments, the state's financial health would get a fillip as it was due to get GST arrears to the tune of Rs 4,073 crore and Rs 3,370 crore in performance and basic grants for local bodies.