Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam MLA Sathyabama of Tiruppur North constituency on Wednesday drew attention by presiding over the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly as an alternate Speaker.
In the absence of the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker presides over the proceedings. When both are unavailable, one of the alternate Speakers takes charge of the House.
Accordingly, Sathyabama, one of the alternate Speakers, occupied the Speaker’s chair and conducted the proceedings for around 15 minutes.
Former Minister Thangam Thennarasu congratulated Sathyabama from the floor of the House, saying members were happy to see a woman occupy the chair that has long been associated with the aspiration of having a woman preside over the Assembly.
Sathyabama stood up and accepted the greetings. Members from various political parties also congratulated her.
When Speaker J.C.D. Prabhakar returned to the House, Sathyabama vacated the chair.
Congratulating her, J.C.D. Prabhakar said he had watched her conduct the proceedings effectively and noted that such temporary responsibilities provide members an opportunity to demonstrate and develop their capabilities.
Rukmini Lakshmipathi had served as Deputy President of the Madras Legislative Assembly in 1937. Later, A.S. Ponnammal served as the temporary Speaker in 1991 and 1996 and administered the oath of office to MLAs.
After a long gap, Sathyabama has now had the distinction of occupying the Speaker’s chair and presiding over the proceedings of the Assembly.
