DMK objects to Guv’s secy seating

DMK leader Duraimurugan, who is well versed with the Assembly protocol and precedence, on Saturday objected to Rajagopal being seated on a par with Assembly Speaker P Dhanapal on the podium when Governor Banwarilal Purohit delivered his customary address on Wednesday.

Raising the issue in the Assembly, Duraimurugan termed the Speaker as the supreme authority in the House and quoted constitutional powers vested for a state Speaker. “At times, even the courts do not interfere into the powers and protocols of the Assembly Speaker and this makes me wonder how an official could sit on par with the Speaker,” he asked.

Duraimurugan showed a photograph which showed Speaker sitting on one side of the podium in a chair, while the senior IAS officer was sitting on the other side with the Governor in the middle addressing the House.

“In my experience since 1971. I had never seen an official occupying a chair on a par with Speaker inside the Assembly Hall and this act as lowered the dignity of the House,” Duraimurugan charged leaving the house to maintain a stoic silence. 

“Even the chief secretary, who is the head of state bureaucracy, cannot sit on a par with the Speaker inside the Assembly. Officials accompanying the Governor would usually be seated in the gallery allotted for officials,” the DMK legislator said adding that such acts would set a bad precedence.

Responding to the issue, Speaker Dhanapal said it was usual for officials to accompany the Governor to assist him. “In future, such matters will be handled in the way it should be handled,” the Speaker said concluding the discussion.