Chennai, Aug 28:
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay on Thursday created an unusual moment in the State Assembly by leaving his designated chair near the Speaker and sitting alongside his Cabinet colleagues in the front row.
The move marked a departure from the long-standing seating arrangement in the House, where the Chief Minister traditionally occupies a separate chair close to the Speaker’s seat while ministers sit in the front row according to seniority.
During the afternoon sitting, Vijay moved from his customary seat and sat between Leader of the House K.A. Sengottaiyan and Minister Aadhav Arjuna. The gesture drew attention as such a shift by a sitting Chief Minister is believed to be unprecedented in the Assembly.
The development came amid a discussion on the functioning of the House. Leader of the Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin had earlier raised the issue of senior government officials being present in the Assembly when members discussed important departmental matters.
Responding to the concern, Aadhav Arjuna said departmental secretaries were monitoring the proceedings from an adjoining “war room” and taking note of members’ submissions. Speaker J.C. Prabhakar subsequently agreed that senior officials should be present in the House during Assembly sittings.
Vijay had attended government programmes earlier in the day before arriving for the Assembly session. His decision to sit among his ministers later in the House became one of the notable moments of the day’s proceedings.