Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 16: With Kavinder Gupta and Nirmal Singh recently swapping the posts of the Speaker and the Deputy Chief Minister, the war of protocol between them, which was going on for the past quite some time, has now taken an interesting turn.
Dr Nirmal Singh as the Deputy Chief Minister had been claiming that he should be above the protocol from Kavinder Gupta, who was then Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. Gupta too had maintained that post of the Speaker should be above the Deputy Chief Minister. Both had openly voiced their sentiments.
Now, when Dr Nirmal Singh has taken over as the Speaker, he reportedly has conveyed to the Government that the seating arrangement during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Jammu and Kashmir visit should be such that he is placed above Gupta. The State Government has, in turn, forwarded the seating arrangement to the Prime Minister’s Office keeping the Speaker above the Deputy Chief Minister.
Dr Nirmal Singh, when approached for comment, denied having made such a request. However, he said, he would be attending one or two functions of the Prime Minister in Jammu.
Deputy Chief Minister Kavinder Gupta, declined to comment on the seating arrangement.
Meanwhile, sources said, the Prime Minister’s Office has allotted seat to Dr Nirmal Singh after Deputy CM Kavinder Gupta at Zorawar Singh Auditorium in Jammu University, where Modi will inaugurate couple of projects.
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