The proceedings of day one of the 14{+t}{+h}Assembly had several high points. There were as many as 14 first-time MLAs entering the portals of the Assembly.
First-time legislator and Parliamentary Secretary to the Chief Minister A. John Kumar sprang a surprise by singing a few lines of a Tamil movie song to point out that man can become God and his philanthropy would elevate him to greater heights. Before commencing his speech, he handed over his mobile phone to another MLA to record the same.
Another first timer V. Vijayaveny (Congress) said she had become legislator from Nettapakkam reserved segment courtesy of the support and encouragement of the new Speaker. She was effusive in her praise of both Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy and Speaker V. Vaithilingam, even declaring them as her “Gods”.
Meanwhile, the marshals of Assembly were not able to control the surging crowd of lensmen and videographers. It remains a mystery how so many of them entered the hall although the Department of Information and Publicity is said to have issued only a limited number of entry passes.
Contrary to convention, a few media persons hung around the seats of Raj Bhavan MLA K. Lakshminarayanan and Bahour MLA N. Dhanavelu while a few others stationed themselves in front of their seats. One videographer moved an empty chair which was meant for an elected representative and even folded a mike to get a good camera view of the House proceedings.
Helmets, a heady issue here
It looks like the sleepy town has suddenly woken up after the new Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi took charge.
Ms. Bedi has in a short span since assuming office held meetings with various departments, commenced open house sessions to interact with the public and even joined conservancy workers in clean-up missions.
And, now the Union Territory is abuzz with activity as various programmes are being rolled out from the office of the Lieutenant Governor and the newly-formed government.
Virtually, every government department is coming up with its new plans for the city.
Amid all this frenetic activities in this otherwise laid-back city, one of the most talked about issues is whether helmets could become mandatory for two-wheeler users.
In a city where motorists are not used to riding with helmets on, the indications that helmets might be enforced appears to have vexed many.
Are helmets warranted in a town which is not more than 400 sq km or where narrow roads and bumper-to-bumper traffic make it impossible to clock good speed in a two-wheeler, the doubters wonder.
R. Sivaraman and
S. Senthalir
