Assembly Speaker J.C.D. Prabhakar said on Monday (August 17, 2026) that it was up to the MLAs to decide whether or not to stand up when the Chief Minister arrived in the House.

He said, “When the Assembly convenes, there is no doubt that the Speaker, who is the presiding officer, alone gets the respect. When the Chief Minister arrives before the Assembly convenes and greets the members, I have seen former Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami also getting up and greeting him... It is not compulsory to stand up whenever the Chief Minister or the Leader of the Opposition arrives. However, showing respect is part of Tamil culture and tradition. The individual members should decide for themselves whether or not to follow it. I am not going to compel anyone to do it.”

The curious debate on the “respect” for the Chief Minister was triggered after Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department S. Ramesh said Leader of the Opposition Udhayanidhi Stalin should be taught “dignity” as he did not stand up whenever Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay, “who is the representative of eight crore Tamil people”, arrived in the House.

However, DMK MLA and former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam pointed out that the historic Assembly has a few traditions. The Speaker is its presiding officer. When the Speaker arrives, it is a long tradition for all MLAs, irrespective of their party affiliation, to stand up and offer respect. It has been the tradition for the Chief Ministers to make the gesture of ‘Vanakkam’ to the members of the House and then take their seat.

“But going here and there to greet the members seems to be a new practice. Only the Speaker should decide whether or not to depart from the tradition of getting up only when the Speaker arrives and extend the same courtesy to the Chief Minister... He should also clarify whether the same courtesy should be shown to the Leader of the Opposition and the ruling party MLAs should stand up to offer him respect,” he said.

Published - August 17, 2026 09:50 pm IST