TN: Out of govt, Cong loses out on Dy Speaker’s post on Day 1

The Assembly convened today for the first time and the newly-elected members took oath under the supervision of pro tem Speaker D Sudarsanam (Congress). Notable absentees were AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa and actor Vijayakant of the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam.

There was much speculation that four-time Congress MLA from Vellore, C Gnanasekaran, would be made Deputy Speaker though Tamil Nadu does not have a tradition of electing an Opposition member for the post. But since the DMK did not have a majority of its own, it was expected that the Chief Minister would oblige his Congress ally by making Gnanasekaran the Deputy Speaker.

A senior Congressman said, ‘‘The post does not have much power. It does not help us in any way,’’ and pointed out that participation in the government would have been ‘‘more meaningful’’. He added, ‘‘Now we would rather function as a constructive Opposition.’’

Earlier, Congress leaders were peeved when CWC member, in charge of Tamil Nadu, Veerappa Moily, after meeting Karunanidhi at his residence on May 12, made an impromptu oral announcement that his party would be extending ‘unconditional’ outside support to the DMK. ‘‘The word ‘unconditional’ was not in the letter of support given by us,’’ said an angry Congress MLA.

The DMK minority regime has 31 ministers, including the Chief Minister, which amounts to one-third of the party’s strength in the Assembly. The DMK won 96 seats, requiring 22 more for a majority of its own in the 234-member House. But two of the MLAs are from the Indian Union Muslim League members who contested on the DMK’s ‘rising sun’ symbol, effectively bringing down the DMK’s strength to 94.

State Congress leaders blame the high command for not staking a claim to government participation. There is still hope within the state unit, that ‘Kalignar’ would oblige with four ministerial berths for the party.