The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly session began on Monday, October 9. This is the first session being held after the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) broke from its alliance with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The AIADMK has 66 legislators while the BJP has four MLAs. The BJP has won the seats in 2021 Assembly elections in alliance with the AIADMK. It remains to be seen how the AIADMK will react to BJP in the House after the split.
The session is expected to discuss in detail the Cauvery water issue with Karnataka. The Kuruvai paddy farmers of Delta districts of Tamil Nadu are facing the heat after the crops withered following a fall in the water level in Mettur dam. Mettur dam has recorded water level at 32 feet against its capacity of 120 feet, and as the Cauvery water flow reduced, the Kuruvai paddy has withered.
The Tamil Nadu government has already announced compensation of Rs 5,500 per acre for the Kuruvai paddy farmers which the opposition AIADMK, Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) and Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) have said to be inadequate. The Assembly session is slated to be brief and Cauvery is expected to take centre stage in the discussions.
The Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu is also slated to present the first supplementary estimates for the Financial year 2023-24.