Cabinet repeals Tamil Nadu Legislative Council Act

The Union Cabinet on Thursday repealed the Tamil Nadu Legislative Council Act, thereby laying the foundation of a political strategy to woo the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.

After Home Minister P Chidambaram proposed the agenda and sought the views of other ministers in the Cabinet, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave his go-ahead for the repeal.

Interestingly, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader and Union minister M K Alagiri was absent from the Cabinet meet, as he is currently on an official tour to China.

The decision to repeal the Act did not take more than two months, according to a senior Union minister.

This repeal bill is expected to be introduced in Parliament in the second half of the  Budget session.

This step will please Jayalalithaa, as the newly elected Tamil Nadu legislative assembly had in June 2011 passed an unanimous resolution against the formation of an Upper House in Tamil Nadu.

Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh played a key role in bringing in the Act.

He even managed to get an appointment with Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid for an AIADMK delegation, during the hectic period of the Uttar Pradesh polls, to discuss this matter.

The Congress has opened a line of communication with the AIADMK through Ramesh.