Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, in a statement on Tuesday, thanked DMK treasurer M.K. Stalin for attending the swearing-in ceremony on May 23, saying, “if the seating plan caused him any discomfiture, I would like to assure him that there was no intent to show disrespect to him or his party.”
She said Mr. Stalin was seated in the block of seats intended for MLAs because the Public Department had followed the Protocol Manual in allocating seats in the hall for the event. The Chief Minister said if the officials had brought to her notice that Mr. Stalin would be attending the ceremony, she would have instructed the officer in-charge of the arrangement to provide the DMK leader a seat in the first row, “relaxing the norms in the Protocol Manual.”
On Monday, DMK president M. Karunanidhi had alleged that the government had “wilfully insulted” the DMK.
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