Tamil Nadu Assembly to meet on January 23

Tamil Nadu: Tamil Nadu Assembly will meet on January 23, marking the beginning of the first session of the year and Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao will make his first ever address to the House the same day.

The inaugural session, first to be held after the death of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, comes after demands of main Opposition DMK to hold a special session to debate the agrarian distress in the wake of a failed monsoon.

In an official release here, Secretary, Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, AMP Jamaludeen said Governor Rao has summoned the House under Article 174 of the Constitution.

The House session comes against the background of farm distress due to drought conditions and suicides of 17 farmers, due to "various reasons", according to the State government which had days ago said it would grant a solatium of Rs 3 lakh to kin of the each of the dead farmers.

Months ago, before the House was prorogued on Oct 15 last, DMK had demanded a special session of the Assembly and an all party meeting to debate the Cauvery issue.

The Business Advisory Committee will decide the duration of the Assembly sittings.

In the past, such sittings in the opening of the year had been held for less than a week which will include a debate on the motion of thanks to the Governor's address and a reply to it by the Chief Minister. Rao was sworn in Govenor of Tamil Nadu on September 2, 2016.