Congress Loses Power In Puducherry, V Narayanasamy Resigns, Blames BJP

Mr Narayanasamy accused former Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi of “colluding with the opposition” to try and topple his government though his MLAs stayed united. He accused Kiran Bedi of scuttling every move of his government and denying central benefits.

Yesterday, the ruling coalition lost two more MLAs; Congress’s K Lakshminarayanan and its partner DMK’s K Venkatesan resigned. Four-time Congress MLA Lakshminarayanan said he was upset at not getting “recognition” in the party. He said he wasn’t made a minister or Speaker nor party chief and thst  the rival NR Congress and the BJP had approached him.

With the two resignations, the Congress government’s strength in the Puducherry legislative assembly fell to 12 and the rival NR Congress-led alliance has 14 MLAs.

Sources say the Congress had earlier thought of asking the Speaker not to allow the three nominated MLAs – all BJP members – to vote. If these MLAs were excluded, the ruling Congress would have a majority. However, the Supreme Court had in a past ruling allowed nominated MLAs to vote.

Lieutenant Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan called the Chief Minister on Thursday and ordered him to take a floor test on Monday citing the opposition’s stand that his government no longer has a majority. She called for the vote a day after taking charge following Kiran Bedi’s sudden removal as Lieutenant Governor on Tuesday.

The Congress’s crisis was precipitated by four resignations, two in January and two last week. Both the leaders who quit in January have joined the BJP and the rest are tipped to do the same. The Chief Minister insisted that the last two resignations had not been accepted and the MLAs would come around. That possibility looks distant now.

The Chief Minister accused the BJP of trying to topple his government adopting the “Operation Kamala” – the name given by the BJP’s critics to what they call the plan of destabilizing governments by engineering defections in the ruling parties.

Four outcomes are being seen as likely in Puducherry. The Lieutenant Governor may ask the NR Congress to form government with only three months to polls, or call for President’s rule.

The Congress collapse is seen to benefit the BJP ahead of elections due by May in Puducherry, along with Tamil Nadu and three more states.

The Congress has lost its only government in the south. The BJP is likely to be part of a ruling coalition led by the NR Congress and its three MLAs – all nominated members – could become ministers. Power in Puducherry, the BJP assesses, would also help its cause in neighbouring Tamil Nadu and add to its tally of southern governments after Karnataka.