TN assembly session likely to be stormy

The Tamil Nadu Assembly session, beginning here tomorrow, is set to be a stormy one with the opposition expected to target the AIADMK government in the poll-bound state on several issues, including its handling of the flood situation last month.
The House meets almost a month after the devastating floods that brought Chennai, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur and Cuddalore districts to a standstill.
Over 450 persons had died in various rain-related incidents during the north-east monsoon that set in October last year.
A united opposition is expected to raise a series of issues including that of release of excess water from a city reservoir, blamed by them as reason for the deluge in Chennai, even as they are likely to target the government's overall handling of the monsoon season.

Other issues like prohibition are also likely to come up.
On its part, the government is likely to list its achievements in the past four years, with the ruling AIADMK dispensation harping on its various social welfare initiatives.

Governor K Rosaiah is likely to spell out government policies on various issues.
The Business Advisory Committee of the House will later determine the duration of the session.
The Rail Budget will be presented on February 25, the
pre-budget Economic Survey on February 26 and the General Budget on February 29. The first part of Budget session will end on March 16 and the second part will be convened from April 25 to May 13.

Since it is the first session of the new calendar year, it will begin with the address of President Pranab Mukherjee to the joint sitting of the two Houses on February 23.
On February 16, the Prime Minister reached out to the opposition by holding a meeting of leaders of major political parties.
In the first-ever exercise initiated by Modi against the backdrop of repeated stalling of sessions, he sought their cooperation saying, "I am not the Prime Minister of BJP alone but the entire country."
He expressed the hope that Parliament will function and assured opposition parties that the government will work to address their concerns during the Budget session.

The Winter session had ended on December 23, leaving the Goods and Services Tax Bill and a number of other measures in a limbo.
The government's legislative agenda had suffered a serious setback due to lack of support from the numerically stronger Congress-led opposition in Rajya Sabha. This had prompted Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to raise the question of how an "unelected" House could overrule the mandate of the "elected" House.
In the Winter session, Rajya Sabha saw passage of nine bills but lost 47 hours due to disruptions caused almost every day by Congress which raised one issue after another.

Lok Sabha performed a little better as it passed 13 bills and saw discussions on various issues like price rise, floods and drought, despite repeated uproar by Congress over several matters.