Tamil Nadu Assembly to commence tomorrow amid strike by transport unions; TTV Dhinakaran to make debut appearance

Chennai: The ongoing transport strike by trade unions and impact of Cyclone Ockhi in Kanyakumari district are some of the matters that are expected to be in focus as the Tamil Nadu Assembly session begins on Monday. [caption id=“attachment_4274681” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of TTV Dhinakaran after winning the RK Nagar bypoll. PTI[/caption] The session will being with a customary address by Governor Banwarilal Purohit. This will be the first session for Purohit after assuming charge as Tamil Nadu Governor in October. The session would also witness sidelined AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran making his debut in the Assembly after having won the 21 December Radhakrishnan Nagar bypoll by a thumping margin of 40,000 votes against E Madhusudhanan of AIADMK. This will also be the first session after Speaker P Dhanapal disqualified 18 rival AIADMK MLAs supporting Dhinakaran, for revolting against Chief Minister E Palaniswamy in August in 2017. These MLAs had met the then governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao and said they had lost confidence in the chief minister, a day after the formal merger of the two factions led by Palaniswamy and then rebel leader and now Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam on 21 August. According to a government notification, the Governor has summoned the Assembly to meet on 8 January at 10 am. The duration of the session will be decided by the House’s Business Advisory Committee, later on Monday.