Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Thursday made heads turn in the state Assembly when he casually moved from his chair in the House and sat beside ministers in the front row, marking a major departure from a long-standing tradition vis-a-vis seating.
The Chief Minister had attended certain government events earlier in the day, and had turned up for the session later.
Responding, Aadhav Arjuna said the secretaries were present in the adjoining “war room” and taking notes from the members’ speeches.
Normally, the chief minister occupies a separate and spacious chair close to the Speaker’s Chair, and the ministers are seated separately, next to him, as per their seniority, in the front row. Normally, the ministers or legislators change their positions for a brief while to speak with their colleagues. But this perhaps is the first time a chief minister has shifted from his official chair to have a word with his colleagues. “The Speaker mentioned that the then chief minister spoke about the Karur (stampede) incident during the previous DMK regime. Then our leader and CM (M K Stalin) was present in the House and so were the chief secretary and department secretaries.
In the past no chief minister sat on the seat meant for ministers, according to a source. Now, both the chief minister and department secretaries are not present in the House,” Udhayanidhi said.
