Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Thursday made heads turn in the state Assembly when he casually moved from his chair in the House and sat besides ministers in the front row, marking a major departure from a long-standing tradition vis-a-vis seating.

Normally, the chief minister occupies a separate and spacious chair close to the Speaker’s Chair and the ministers are seated separately, next to him, as per their seniority, in the front row.

The facing row is occupied by the Leader of the Opposition and leaders of the Legislature parties based on their numerical strength in the 234-member House with their respective party members behind.

In the afternoon session, Vijay casually moved from his chair, located on the right side of Speaker J C D Prabhakar and sat between Ministers K A Sengottaiyan (also Leader of the House) and Aadhav Arjuna.