TVK takes treasury as DMK, AIADMK share opposition benches for the first time

Chennai: As the 17th Tamil Nadu Assembly convenes for its maiden session on Monday, members of the Dravidian majors – DMK and AIADMK – will sit next to each other on the opposition benches for the first time in the state’s history.

This demonstrates the changed nature and character of the House following the arrival of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) onto the state’s political scene.

The treasury benches will mostly be occupied by newcomers, including Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay and the young men and women of TVK who won the April 23 assembly elections. Of the 107 TVK MLAs, 93 are debutants and 41 are under the age of 40, making it one of the youngest assemblies in the state’s history and heralding a generational shift.

The young legislators, most of whom are tech-savvy and popular on social media platforms like Instagram, will feel at home as they will have a large tablet screen at their seat containing the day’s agenda and other policy documents. Tamil Nadu Assembly went almost paperless in 2021 after the DMK came to power. 

Another notable change in the seating arrangement is that the Congress, which played the second fiddle to the Dravidian majors ever since it was unseated by the then fledgling DMK in 1967, will occupy the treasury benches for the first time in 59 years. 

Since 1967, the DMK and AIADMK, which came to power in 1977 four years after the legendary M G Ramachandran floated the party, have ruled the state alternatively, always occupying either the treasury or opposition benches. 

Now, for the first time, the legislators of the DMK and AIADMK will sit together. In all probability, former chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and former deputy chief minister Udhayanidhi Stalin will occupy the front rows on the opposite side of the aisle. 

While the DMK is used to occupying opposition benches for more than one term of the assembly (five years), this is the first time that the AIADMK will occupy the opposition benches for a consecutive term.

Moreover, the AIADMK has lost the principal opposition status to the DMK, whose member will be the Leader of Opposition, who enjoys the power of a minister. 

For many on the treasury benches, the next five years will be a learning curve; those occupying the opposition benches will perhaps give them a tip or two on assembly proceedings. Legend has it that the DMK is most vociferous and vehement when it occupies the opposition benches.

R Kannan, biographer of Dravidian legends C N Annadurai and MGR and the author of The DMK Years, told DH that this is not a mere seat change but a generational change that was long overdue and waiting for Vijay to herald.

He added that while the composition of the assembly will be young, senior minister K A Sengottaiyan is one of the few with familiarity with parliamentary procedure.

“The Dravidian majors will take a long time to adjust to this new reality. for they have been exchanging positions until now, and have taken power for granted. The arrival of TVK has defied all fundamentals of political science. Vijay was grossly underestimated and rode the zeitgeist,” Kannan said.

The situation is similar to 1967. Congress, which had a free run until then, was relegated to the opposition while the then-rookie DMK won with a thumping majority. Now, the Dravidian majors are in the opposition, while the new kid from the Dravidian stable occupies the treasury benches.