Shedding his usual self-effacing nature, Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam on Tuesday occupied the Chief Minister’s seat in the Assembly during the Governor’s address to the House.
In the last session, which was convened after AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa lost her post as Chief Minister, Mr. Panneerselvam had avoided using the CM’s seat. Instead, he sat with his Cabinet colleagues.
The Opposition criticised him and kept raising questions pointing to the vacant seat repeatedly that led to heated verbal exchanges.
On Tuesday, he occupied the two-seater used by Ms. Jayalalithaa when she was the Chief Minister. However, he chose to sit on the right side and not where she used to sit.
Even if no reason was spelt out, ruling party men said the move was to avoid mounting criticism from the Opposition.
But Mr. Panneerselvam still functions out of the ministerial chamber that he was occupying as Finance Minister and refuses to use the Chief Minister’s chamber.
