Cyclone Ockhi, transport strike on agenda: TN Assembly to begin today

The first session of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly after Governor Banwarilal Purohit took charge as the Governor in October, will take place on Monday.TTV Dhinakaran, who has won the RK Nagar bye-election with a lead of over 40,000 votes, will be seen making his entry into the Assembly.

Various issues including the impact of Cyclone Ockhi which devastated the Kanyakumari district and the strike by the transport department would be discussed in the Assembly.

Deputy Chief Minister Panneerselvam was appointed as the Leader of the House in the Assembly last week.

This session would also be the first after the Assembly Speaker P Dhanapal expelled 18 Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) from the ruling party, for submitting a letter with then Governor Vidyasagar Rao that they have lost confidence on the Chief Minister Palaniswami. 

Meanwhile, the entry of TTV Dhinakaran, nephew of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) faction leader V K Sasikala, would not be a favourable sign for the ruling AIADMK. Dhinakaran won the traditional AIADMK constituency of R K Nagar, in Chennai, which fell vacant after the demise of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. He won with a significant majority of 40,000 votes, which shook the ruling faction. The ruling faction took action against a large number of leaders and other functionaries in the party, following the defeat.

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), which along with Congress has over 95 MLAs, is also expected to mark its presence in the session. The party has lost the R K Nagar election and lost the deposit amount, inviting criticism that it has supported Dhinakaran unofficially, in order to increase the rift between the two factions of AIADMK. M K Alagiri, the brother of DMK Working President M K Stalin, has alleged that the party cannot win any election under the leadership of Stalin.

The Assembly last met in July.