Chennai: Displaying magnanimity, Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa on Tuesday said she regretted that the Government’s Public Department had, as a matter of routine protocol, allotted a seat to DMK treasurer M.K. Stalin among all other legislators during her swearing-in ceremony on Monday.
“Had the officers brought to my notice that Thiru M.K. Stalin would be attending the event, I would have instructed the officers in charge of the arrangements to provide him a seat in the first row, relaxing the norms in the Protocol Manual,” she said in a statement here.
The Chief Minister also said there was no intent to show disrespect to Mr Stalin or to his party, the DMK. “If this seating plan caused him (Mr Stalin) any discomfiture, I would like to assure him that there was no intent to show disrespect to him or his party,” she said in the statement.
Complimenting Mr Stalin for attending the swearing-in ceremony, Ms Jayalalithaa said she looked forward to “working with his party for the betterment of the state.” The statement came a day after a controversy erupted over Mr Stalin being seated among legislators at the swearing-in ceremony. Mr Stalin’s father and DMK chief M Karunanidhi had criticised the state government and the Chief Minister on the issue.
The DMK treasurer also broke with tradition and attended the swearing-in ceremony of Ms Jayalalithaa along with a few DMK legislators and even wished the Chief Minister luck on the micro-blogging site Twitter. He had also expressed hope that Ms Jayalalithaa would fulfil all promises that she made to people during election campaign.
