The third day of the Legislative Assembly’s budget session was held today. Argument...debate...counterattack — here are some highlights from today’s long, no-holds-barred day!

Since it was Friday, Premalatha Vijayakant finished a special darshan at the Vinayagar temple in the Assembly premises before entering the House. Although she went inside the House by 9:30 a.m., by the time she began speaking it was already close to 2 o’clock. Everyone was feeling the effects of hunger.
At that time, he injected a jolt into the slumbering members by giving a reason for why debt burdens arise that was enough to make Fort St. George tremble: “We cannot blame governments for borrowing money. Because right from school, we are taught arithmetic by borrowing. That is why every family is in debt. In Japan, they do not teach people to borrow and then solve the calculation. They teach students to solve the calculation with what they already have.”

The proceedings had already begun by 9:30 a.m. The House only entered into debate at 11:20 a.m., after completing resolutions on the Cauvery issue and on the resolution demanding that the Union government ensure fair tax sharing. Ten MLAs were scheduled to speak today. Former Minister Raghupathy, who spoke first, kept up the fight without a break for three-quarters of an hour, and time flew by. The Speaker had planned to adjourn the session by 1:30 p.m. But by then, only four MLAs had finished speaking. As a result, the Speaker announced that the House would be extended. By the time Markandeyan finally finished speaking, it was already 3:45 p.m. In between, MLAs and ministers got up, went and finished their lunch, and returned. Even so, they were tired after the long debate.
Until now, Chief Minister Vijay had been present for the entire session, but today he left during the lunch break. Opposition leader Udhayanidhi also left the House and came to his room. Soumya Anbumani, who always leaves after giving interviews to all the journalists, left today without giving a separate interview to anyone, apparently due to exhaustion.
While the proceedings were going on inside, farmers outside, wearing gunny sacks, were protesting demanding a waiver of crop loans and were being arrested.

TVK MLA Thanjai Saravanan was also given a chance to speak today. In a style like, “You acted so cool. You are Tamil Nadu’s asset,” he went on to lavish praise on the Chief Minister, stringing together Vijay’s films like Kavalan and Nanban into a garland of praise so excessive it was almost nauseating. We could almost hear Minister Bussy Anand’s mind voice saying, “Oh ho... looks like he’s expecting a ministerial post...” What happened next was the highlight. After spending half an hour praising the Chief Minister and reciting it like a song, he wrote down the demands of the people in my constituency on a slip of paper, handed it to the Speaker, and sat down. It raised the question: was this a people’s forum... or a stage for flattery?

With a tone of “who can beat us when it comes to praise-singing,” AIADMK’s Agri Krishnamoorthy sprang up and shocked everyone by calling him “Edappadiyar who swallows lightning and spews electricity,” leaving Edappadi Palaniswami staring in a strange daze, as if a bolt of lightning had got stuck in his throat. Every punchline Agri Krishnamoorthy delivered, like “the legislative assembly sanctum... a cradle ceremony for the rainbow,” was explosive.
Today, actor Jai also came as a spectator to watch the assembly. If he too had done his part by twirling his shirt and saying, “Long live Brother Thalapathy,” the meeting would have ended with peace of mind. If they pass a resolution banning praise songs directed at the party leadership and make people speak only on the issue at hand, the meeting can be concluded very quickly and useful work can be done.
