We will raise the governor issue in Parliament: DMK, Congress promise

Tamil Nadu: DMK and Congress MPs said they would seriously raise the issue of the Tamil Nadu Governor leaving the Assembly without reading the Governor’s address during the Budget session of Parliament, and the renaming of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).

The Budget session of Parliament is beginning on Wednesday (January 28). In this regard, an all-party leaders’ meeting was held in Delhi on Tuesday, chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

The meeting was attended by DMK Lok Sabha leader T.R. Baalu, DMK Rajya Sabha leader Trichy Siva, AIADMK group leader M. Thambidurai, Congress Chief Whip Manickam Tagore, TAMAK leader and Rajya Sabha member G.K. Vasan, and others.

After the meeting, T.R. Baalu ​​and Trichy Siva told reporters: “We raised several issues related to Tamil Nadu at the all-party meeting. It is a long-standing tradition that the Governor reads the speech prepared by the government on the first day of the first session of the year. Violating this tradition, the Tamil Nadu Governor left the House without any proper reason. We have requested a discussion in the House on this act, which is against the Constitution.

Furthermore, the Sri Lankan Navy is continuously attacking Tamil Nadu fishermen, arresting them, and seizing their boats. We have also urged that this issue be discussed. The Central Government’s refusal to grant permission for the Hosur airport project is unacceptable. In this regard, we will soon be meeting Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

The provision to cede Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka should be withdrawn. We are going to raise this issue in the House. The Madurai and Coimbatore Metro projects should be sanctioned. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme has been renamed after V.P. G. Ram. Since this scheme is affecting farmers, it should be withdrawn and run under its old name; we will raise these issues in Parliament,” they said.

Manickam Tagore (Congress): We will strongly oppose the changes to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in the upcoming session. This law is a blow to the poor. The Special Summary Revision (SSR) of the electoral rolls is a major conspiracy. Its aim is to disenfranchise the poor. We will condemn this in the meeting.

Similarly, we strongly oppose the actions of governors who withhold state government funds and stage walkouts from the legislative assemblies. We will also raise the issues of export duties, the confusion in foreign policy, the Aravalli Hills issue, and agricultural issues in Parliament.

G.K. Vasan (Thamizhaga): There are several state-related issues in Tamil Nadu. In particular, we will raise the issues of fishermen, river water linking, environment, and agriculture in Parliament. However, the major parties take up most of the time in Parliament. Although it is said that time is allotted to smaller parties, this is not the case in reality. I insisted that the speaking time should be fixed at a minimum of 7 minutes.