When Jayalalithaa walked out of the National Development Council meeting-OxBig News Network

Causing a stir: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister 
Jayalalithaa and Union Minister for Agriculture Sharad Pawar on the 57th
assembly of the National Development Council held in New Delhi on December 27, 2012. The Hindu reported that Jayalalithaa
had solely reached the tenth web page of a 28-page speech when the bell was rung on the assembly.
| Photo Credit: R.V. MOORTHY

On December 27, 2012, the Chief Ministers of assorted States and Union Territories and Union Ministers had assembled on the Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi for the 57th assembly of the National Development Council (NDC). Representing Tamil Nadu was Jayalalithaa, who was elected to the workplace the earlier 12 months. State Finance Minister O. Panneerselvam, Chief Secretary Debendranath Sarangi, and senior officers had accompanied her to the assembly convened to finalise the draft of the twelfth Five Year Plan.

The NDC, presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, was a discussion board for decision-making and deliberations on issues of improvement. After Singh delivered his opening remarks, the Chief Ministers have been known as one after the other to handle the gathering, every allotted a time slot of 10 minutes.

Bell rang

When Jayalalithaa’s flip got here, she started addressing the assembly. After 10 minutes, a bell was rung to sign that her time was over. As the bell sounded, Jayalalithaa, who had not but accomplished her speech, grew to become upset. She walked out of the corridor with the Tamil Nadu delegation.

Quoting sources, The Hindu reported that Jayalalithaa had solely reached the tenth web page of a 28-page speech when the bell was rung. The Prime Minister, who was conducting the proceedings, then known as the subsequent speaker: Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister Anam Ramnarayan Reddy.

Speaking to journalists outdoors the venue, Jayalalithaa accused the Centre of stifling the voice of the Chief Ministers. “The voice of the Chief Ministers has been stifled. They were not allowed to speak freely. At the very beginning, we were told that only 10 minutes would be allotted to each Chief Minister and after that a bell would ring. This is unheard of. This has never been the practice before… If this is the way they are going to treat the Chief Ministers, the Centre could stop calling such conferences and stop inviting us. We have got enough work back home,” The Hindu quoted her as saying.

Jayalalithaa mentioned she had attended many such conferences, together with the sooner NDC conferences and the Chief Ministers’ conferences, the place no such follow had been adopted. “This is an utter humiliation of a Chief Minister who has come all the way to Delhi to present the views of the State government, in the interest of the welfare of the people of Tamil Nadu and in the national interest,” she mentioned.

She additionally alleged that the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance authorities (of which the DMK was a constituent) was discriminatory. “Those who supported the Centre were allowed to speak for 30 or 35 minutes and even more. At the last conference that I attended, the Assam Chief Minister was allowed to speak for more than 35 minutes. It is impossible to convey the views of the State government in such a short period as 10 minutes. This is not democracy. The NDC meeting had turned out to be an exercise in humiliation,” Jayalalithaa mentioned.

Manmohan’s ‘gesture’

The Centre swiftly rejected her allegations, denying any discrimination between the Congress- and non-Congress-ruled States. Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Rajiv Shukla mentioned, “The Prime Minister showed a gesture by giving an opportunity to her to speak first, immediately after his speech, though her turn was to come much later.”

He mentioned that with a protracted checklist of audio system — together with 35 Chief Ministers, the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, the Finance Minister, and the Agriculture Minister — the time restrict needed to be enforced uniformly. “The same arrangement was made for the Chief Ministers of the Congress- and non-Congress-ruled States. The buzzer was pressed even for the Congress Chief Ministers. So where was the discrimination? The leaders should not make political capital out of such events,” Mr. Shukla mentioned.

According to him, the NDC assembly ought to be utilized by the Chief Ministers to realize one thing for the folks of their States as an alternative of “making an issue out of a non-issue”.

Mixed response

Her walkout obtained a blended response in political circles. While BJP Chief Ministers Narendra Modi (Gujarat and now the Prime Minister) and Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh and now Union Minister for Agriculture) supported Jayalalithaa’s motion, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan (Congress) welcomed the system of limiting the speech of the Chief Ministers to 10 minutes, saying all of the States have been being handled equally. Mr. Modi had mentioned sarcastically, “The less they hear, the better it is for them [the Centre],” The Hindu reported.

Meanwhile, DMK president M. Karunanidhi criticised Jayalalithaa’s response, calling it an “exaggeration”. He mentioned, “The Chief Minister’s speech (in text form) appeared in newspapers. It would have taken more than an hour, had she read out the entire speech.” In a letter to his social gathering members, Karunanidhi questioned the practicality of permitting all Chief Ministers to learn out their full speech. “Therefore, it is an exaggeration to say that Tamil Nadu was insulted. It is not a genuine allegation,” he mentioned, including that even within the State Assemblies, a bell can be rung to remind members of the time restrict.