‘Upma’ dominates debate in TN Assembly. Here’s what happened

CHENNAI: Ask any random foodie in the State to name one of their least favourite recipes, at least a few would say 'upma' (a south Indian recipe made of broken rice/wheat). Such is the extent to which the ready to cook recipe exhausts many if not most south Indian foodies. But, the least inspiring food dominated the discourse of the State Assembly as the treasury benches and Opposition debated the demand for grants for the agriculture department.

Former AIADMK minister OS Manian set the tone for the mouth-watering debate when he said that the farmers of the State expected a sumptuous meal comprising rice, poriyal, aviyal, vadai and payasam, but all that they got in the exclusive agriculture budget was ordinary upma.

Not content with the Budget interpretation of the opposition MLA, State Agriculture Minister MRK Panneerselvam said that even Upma is good.

The minister added that the government cannot do magic instantly, it has just begun and they would do wonders for the farmers gradually. The aroma of the Upma debate, which happened just past-noon, was so teasing that Leader of the House Duraimurugan stood up and asked the AIADMK MLA to avoid the Upma reference when members were experiencing hunger pangs.

Manian obliged and went on to add that the incumbent CM, during his stint as Leader of Opposition, demanded that compensation to the tune of Rs 75,000 per hectare be paid to the farmers affected by floods in 2020-21, but now he has only paid Rs 13,000 per hectare. Responding to his charge, the agriculture minister clarified that the incumbent CM paid Rs 1,000 per ration card immediately during his visit to the flood affected areas in Cuddalore and Rs 20,000 per hectare to the flood affected farmers after that.

As if he were waiting for the moment, state industries minister Thangam Thennarasu offered a fresh dose of sarcasm moments later by reading between the lines of the opposition legislator. When the AIADMK MLA drew the attention of the government to overgrowth of agaya thamarai (water hyacinth -considered a weed) in the waterbodies in the state, a sharp-witted Thennarasu wondered if there was a political connotation behind the MLA's statement about agaya thamarai, (thamarai is the Tamil equivalent for Lotus, which is the symbol of AIADMK's ally BJP.)