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The tenure of the 16th Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, which began connected May 11, 2021, was marked by respective distinctive developments including sustained confrontation betwixt the Governor and the State government, historical resolutions, and notable administrative innovations.
The House was constituted pursuing the DMK’s instrumentality to power with a wide bulk aft a spread of 25 years. While the enactment had formed the authorities successful 2006 with 96 members and extracurricular enactment from allies, including the Congress and PMK, the 2021 mandate was decisive. The DMK secured 133 seats, comfortably crossing the bulk people of 118, portion overall, its Secular Progressive Alliance bagged 159 seats.
The past clip the DMK had secured a bulk connected its ain was successful 1996, amid a sweeping anti-incumbency question against the past AIADMK authorities led by Jayalalithaa.
NEET Bill episode
One of the defining moments came wrong a twelvemonth of the constitution of the 16th Assembly. On February 8, 2022, during a peculiar session, the House took an unprecedented measurement of re-adopting a Bill returned by the Governor. The Bill seeking exemption from the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for undergraduate aesculapian admissions successful the State, was readopted with the enactment of members cutting crossed enactment lines, including the AIADMK, barring the 4 BJP members who staged a walkout.
The archetypal Bill, adopted connected September 13, 2021, was passed during the tenure of past Governor Banwarilal Purohit. Within days, helium was transferred, and R.N. Ravi assumed bureau arsenic Governor connected September 18, 2021. The contented soon became a flashpoint. In 2022, Mr. Ravi returned the Bill, arguing it was not successful the involvement of students, peculiarly those from agrarian and economically weaker backgrounds.
After being re-adopted by the Assembly, the Bill was forwarded for Presidential assent. On April 4, 2025, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin informed the House that President Droupadi Murmu had withheld assent to the Bill. The State subsequently moved the Supreme Court connected this issue.
The NEET Bill occurrence was lone the opening of a broader and persistent signifier of friction betwixt the Governor and the State government. Mr. Ravi’s tenure, spanning astir 54 months, was marked by repeated disagreements implicit legislative procedures, gubernatorial discretion, and law conventions.
Customary address
Tensions were peculiarly disposable during the opening league of the Assembly each twelvemonth erstwhile the Governor had to present the Customary Address. Except for delivering the archetypal code successful 2022, the Governor walked retired the House successful each consequent years astatine antithetic stages of proceedings.
In 2023, helium near astatine the extremity of the league aft the Chief Minister objected to selective deviations from the approved substance of the Governor’s code and moved a solution to instrumentality connected grounds lone the authoritative version. In 2024, the Governor work lone the opening information of the code earlier leaving. His bureau aboriginal alleged the code “contained galore passages with misleading claims and facts,” and speechmaking them would person made it a “constitutional travesty.”
In 2025, helium did not present the customary code astatine all, walking retired and aboriginal the Raj Bhavan (now Lok bhavan) saying helium near “in heavy anguish,” alleging the “Constitution of Bharat” and the nationalist anthem were “insulted” successful the Assembly.
This year, helium walked retired soon aft Assmebly proceedings began. Later, the Lok Bhavan said Mr. Ravi declined to work the code arsenic it contained “numerous unsubstantiated claims and misleading statements.” It besides alleged respective cardinal nationalist issues were ignored and that the Governor’s microphone was “repeatedly switched off,” preventing him from speaking.
No-confidence question against Speaker
Beyond these confrontations, the Assembly besides witnessed a uncommon organization infinitesimal erstwhile the AIADMK moved a no-confidence question against Speaker M. Appavu, alleging bias successful the behaviour of proceedings. The question was taken up for treatment nether the chairmanship of Deputy Speaker K. Pitchandi but was defeated aft the ruling DMK and its allies voted against it. A full of 154 members opposed the motion, portion 63 supported it.
Alongside governmental developments, the 16th Assembly besides introduced notable administrative changes. In a important departure from tradition, the House shifted to a afloat integer mode of fund presentation. On August 13, 2021, the revised Budget for 2021-22 was presented successful a paperless format by past Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan.
This modulation was supported by a broad technological setup. With Assembly sessions held astatine Kalaivanar Arangam owed to COVID-19 protocols, each 234 MLAs were provided with tablet devices, enabling real-time entree to fund documents. The signifier has continued since.
Another cardinal inaugural was the instauration of a abstracted Agriculture Budget, presented annually by the Agriculture Minister, marking a focused argumentation attack to the sector.
The 16th Assembly besides represented a generational displacement successful Tamil Nadu politics. It was the archetypal Assembly formed aft the passing of 2 towering erstwhile Chief Ministers, M. Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa, signalling a caller signifier successful the State’s governmental landscape.
The tenure was not without moments of tragedy. The deaths of Congress MLA from Erode East E. Thirumahan Everaa and aboriginal his begetter E.V.K.S. Elangovan, who was elected successful a bypoll, caused distress. The House besides saw resignations of legislators from antithetic parties, who switched loyalties, midway.
The tenure of the existent Assembly, which saw less sittings than successful the past, would extremity connected May 10, 2026.
