Puducherry assembly adjourned sine die after Lt Governor's address

Puducherry, Aug 10 (IANS) In a first-of-its-kind development, the Puducherry legislative assembly which commenced for the budget session, was adjourned sine die after the address of the Lt. Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan.

During the address, the Lt Governor said that the Union Territory government had incurred an expenditure of Rs 9793.29 crore against the total outlay of Rs 10,414 crore. She said that the expenditure incurred was the highest in the last four years.

Sounderarajan also highlighted several achievements of the government in 2021-22. The Lt Governor also said that the territorial government was fully committed to providing education, health, clean drinking water, employment opportunities, and also to ensure the socio-economic development of the people of Puducherry.

Immediately after the address of the Lt. Governor, a motion of thanks was tabled by the BJP member A. Johnkumar, seconded by the All India N.R. Congress (AINRC) legislator A.K.D. Arumugham who is also the government whip.

The legislators were expecting the announcement of the date of presentation of the budget as Chief Minister N. Rangasamy had reached the territory late on Tuesday night after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Speaker R. Selvam however said that there would be a debate on the motion of thanks to the Lt Governor's address and that the date for that would be announced soon. The Speaker then announced that the House was being adjourned sine die to the surprise of all.

Earlier, the opposition DMK and Congress wore black shirts and shouted slogans during the address of the Lt Governor against shortcomings in the administration. The opposition also staged a walkout from the legislative assembly.