Amid the coronavirus outbreak, the current session of the Tamil Nadu Assembly will end on Tuesday, well ahead of the scheduled closure on April 9. Speaker P Dhanapal announced this in the Assembly after chairing a meeting in the morning.

Earlier in the morning, the opposition DMK had announced that it would boycott the rest of the session in view of the pandemic. Party President MK Stalin, in a letter to Dhanapal, said holding the Assembly session in not in line with the lockdown, when people are being told to stay at home and avoid gatherings. To ensure the safety of the party’s members, the DMK has decided to boycott the session, he said.

Last week, the DMK had repeatedly requested the State government to postpone the session. However, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami stuck to his ground, saying that only in the Assembly could various issues, including the pandemic, be discussed.

Meanwhile, Palaniswami has announced an additional ₹500 crore for preventive measures to stop the spread of the virus. Strict action will be taken against those who have symptoms of the disease but do not inform the government, he said. “We will not allow even one death due to the virus,” he added.