BJP MLA nomination: "It's abuse of power, we'll go to court"

Puducherry, Jan 30 (PTI): Chief Minister of Puducherry VNarayanasamy on Saturday said the nomination of T Vikraman as a member of the territorial Assembly was an infringement of the right of an elected government to appoint a legislator.

Vikraman was nominated by the NDA government to fill the vacancy caused by the death of treasurer of the BJP K G Shankar on January 17.

Shankar was one of the three nominated members belonging to the BJP while the other two nominated members were VSaminathan, president of the local unit of the BJP, and SSellaganapathy attached to the cultural wing of the party.

Addressing reporters here, the Chief Minister said,'' When we recommended the name of the president of the YouthCongress party Ilayaraja to the Centre to appoint him as a nominated member, the Centre issued a notification on Fridayappointing the vice-president of the BJP unit and ignored our recommendation.'' He said, ''We will challenge the appointment by the Centre in the court as the Centre has arbitrarily decided to post Vikraman.'' Also, Narayanasamy objected to the Lieutenant GovernorKiran Bedi extending the period of levy of COVID-19 tax on liquor till March-end. This would make liquor products dearer in the Union Territory, he said.

When COVID-19 cases were coming down here, there was no need to have such a tax any longer, he said.

The tax was a special tax the Excise Department introduced in May last year to prevent the flow of people into Puducherry from other places.

Referring to the rule on helmet-wearing, the Chief Minister said before making it a must for two-wheeler riders, awareness should have been created among the people.

''Pressure from Bedi to strictly implement the amendedMotor Vehicles Act is objectionable,'' he said.

Narayanasamy said he would have a meeting with the Chief Secretary to impress upon him the need to carry on awareness campaign without adopting strict measures on helmet-wearing.