Tamil Nadu MLAs turn Assembly into concert hall in Amma’s praise

CHENNAI: They may not be items on the House agenda, but item numbers in praise of Amma have certainly perked up proceedings in the first session of the 15th Tamil Nadu Assembly, which concluded on Friday.

It all began a few days ago in the Rajya Sabha, when in the midst of a debate on how Kashmir residents were unable to come out of their houses for the past 30 days, AIADMK MP A Navaneethakrishnan burst into song to convey his thoughts on the issue.

'Kashmir beautiful Kashmir,' sang the MLA, putting to tune words from the MGR film Idhaya Veenai, before he spoke about how children will be born with fair skin if the pregnant mother took saffron available in abundance in Kashmir.

The MP seems to have opened the lyrical floodgates because ever since that rendition in the Upper House, a number of MLAs in the TN Assembly have decided to pepper their speeches with musical interludes.

And of course, MGR movie songs—the former actor-CM having been the founder of the AIADMK—are the flavour of the season with ministers and AIADMK MLAs singing the hit numbers during their replies and speeches to praise chief minister J Jayalalithaa. And some days, it does not even matter if the AIADMK supremo is absent, the show still goes on.