Vijay leaves CM seat, sits with ministers in rare gesture in Tamil Nadu Assembly

In a significant departure from tradition, Tamil Nadu chief minister Vijay ditched his usual seat at the state Assembly and sat next to his cabinet ministers on Thursday. A video of the TVK chief's rare gesture in going viral on social media.

Vijay briefly sat in the chair allotted to him before moving to the one reserved for ministers. Viral videos showed the chief minister interacting with the ministers in the Assembly.

Where does the CM sit usually?

It is not usual for the chief minister to sit next to his ministers. A separate and spacious chair close to the Speaker's Chair is reserved for the CM and the ministers are seated next to him in a separate seat, as per their seniority.

The chairs placed opposite to the ministers' row are occupied by the Leader of the Opposition and leaders of the Legislature parties based on their numerical strength.

On Thursday, Vijay switched seats in the afternoon session and sat between Ministers K A Sengottaiyan (also Leader of the House) and Aadhav Arjuna. He was earlier seated in a chair placed on the right side of Speaker J C D Prabhakar.

No other chief minister sat on the seat meant for ministers, news agency PTI reported, citing sources.

Vijay turned up at the Tamil Nadu Assembly after attending certain government events earlier in the day.

Also Read: Vijay treating Assembly like ‘cinema set, delivering punch dialogues’: Stalin attacks Tamil Nadu CM

He also held a high-level review meeting for the rescue of Tamil Nadu residents stranded amid massive flash floods in Nepal. According to news agency ANI, a total of 103 people from Tamil Nadu travelled to Nepal in two groups. The first group comprised 54 people from Tamil Nadu and three from Puducherry, while the second group consisted of 49 people from Tamil Nadu.

Big announcements and bills by Vijay

Over a 100 days in the CM's chair, TVK chief Vijay has made a slew of announcements and the government led by him has introduced key bills in the Tamil Nadu Assembly.

Among his biggest announcements are measures covering milk producers, legislators, healthcare and women government employees.

Also Read: TVK's Vijay hits 100 as Tamil Nadu CM, then goes on a hard-hitting spree with bills

The maternity leave available for a third child will be increased from 12 weeks to 365 days, his government announced this month. It also raised Aavin's milk procurement price from ₹38 to ₹41 per litre, benefiting more than 3.16 lakh milk producers.

In a big announcement for legislators, Vijay announced that all MLAs would get government vehicles and a ₹1 lakh monthly package, comprising ₹75,000 towards fuel, maintenance and driver expenses and ₹25,000 for an assistant for office work.