In Rare Outreach, Jayalalithaa Thanks Stalin For Attending Oath Ceremony

Chennai: In a rare peace gesture between Tamil Nadu's main rivals, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa thanked DMK's MK Stalin for attending her oath ceremony and also sought to placate him on his back row seat.

Ms Jayalalithaa said in a press statement that she was "happy to note" that the DMK leader attended the event. Had she known he would come, she clarified, she would have instructed her officers to "relax protocol and arrange a seat for him in the first row".

She explained that Mr Stalin was seated in the block of seats intended for lawmakers in keeping with protocol. "If this 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," said the 68-year-old Chief Minister.

The statement ended on a conciliatory note, with Ms Jayalalithaa saying she looked forward to working with the DMK for the state.

Ms Jayalalithaa, 68, defied all odds and broke a 30-year record to return to power for a continuous term in the state that has always alternated between her AIADMK and the DMK.

By attending her oath ceremony on Monday, Mr Stalin, the son of DMK chief M Karunanidhi, ended a long tradition of the two Tamil Nadu rivals boycotting each others swearing in ceremonies.
But the goodwill gesture was lost in the seating row.

Karunanidhi, 93, said Jayalalithaa "deliberately humiliated" his son by having him seated in a row towards the end. "Jayalalithaa has not changed, she will never change," he fumed, pointing out that actor Sarath Kumar was placed in the front row even though he lost the election.

Jayalalithaa has taken six oaths, but is serving her fourth term. She was removed briefly from office after being jailed for corruption, but was later acquitted and returned last year to complete her third term.