Ruling, opposition MLAs’ bonhomie to fore

Behind the veil of the routine walk-outs and heated exchanges is an enviable bonhomie between the DMK and treasury benches, which had gone unnoticed. DMK MLAs have of late been sharing such camaraderie with the treasury benches, so much so that even speaker P Dhanapal had casually declined an opposition MLA’s request to move special call attention motion by citing his informal meeting with the Chief Minister. The Speaker had subtly turned away a former DMK minister’s request to record an issue in the House, again by recalling his meeting with a Minister. 

The hobnobbing between MLAs on both sides of the House has gone to such a level that some ruling party MLAs had publicly objected to a Minister holding key portfolio from northern part of the state not acquiescing to the requests of local party functionaries, perhaps, as much as he does to the opposition. The icing on the cake was Finance and Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar, who had personally dispatched a box of fishes live and cooked each to most of the DMK MLAs early this week.