Govt to construct new Assembly complex in TN

Chennai, May 15: The Tamil Nadu government today decided to construct a new Assembly complex at the Omandurar Government Estate complex in the city.

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the State Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.

This followed Mr Karunanidhi's announcement in the State Assembly on May 12 while replying to felicitations offered by Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on his golden jubilee in the State Legislature.

An official release here said the new complex would be located in the sprawling Government Estate without demolishing heritage structures like the Rajaji Hall and Kalaivanar Arangam. The new MLA hostel situated in the complex also would not be demolished.

The other structures in the Government Estate, which were likely to pave way for the new Assembly complex, were the old MLA hostel and the CB-CID headquarters.

It may be recalled that Mr Karunanidhi had on May 12 announced that the State Government would build a new Assembly complex to commemorate his golden jubilee in the State Legislature. He had said the foundation stone for the new complex would be laid soon and the complex would be completed during the tenure of the present DMK regime itself.

The government would not demolish any educational institution or create problems for universities while selecting the venue, he had said, taking a dig at the previous AIADMK regime, which had sought to demolish Queen Mary's college to build a new complex and then attempted to locate it in the Anna University complex by demolishing various structures.

The Jayalalithaa government's move to demolish the more than century-old QMC college, had triggered protests from the college students, who had also launched a night-long candle-light vigil to protect the heritage structure.

When DMK leaders M K Stalin and Ponmudy expressed solidarity with the protesting students, they were arrested and charged for tresspassing into the college. However, the then government had shelved the proposal due to mounting criticisms and public outcry.

UNI