Nadda slams Cong govt in Pondy over graft, says BJP will capture power in coming polls

BJP president J P Nadda onSunday asserted that his party would sweep the comingPuducherry assembly elections and assured people of the unionterritory a corruption-free and development-orientedgovernment.

Alleging that corruption was rampant under the Congressgovernment led by Chief Minister V Narayanasamy, he said theBJP would win 23 of the 30 seats in the union territoryassembly in the polls, likely in the next few months.

The BJP in the UT has received a shot in the arm withformer minister A Namasivayam joining the party along with aformer MLA recently.

''...for the last 35 years under the Congress rule, 52per cent of the population in the UT is below the povertyline,'' Nadda claimed, adding corruption extended to admissionsin colleges offering professional courses as well.

Addressing a grand first election public meeting here,Nadda said the Congress government did not conduct local bodyelections for a long time and the Central seats in collegeswere not allotted to Puducherry students ''due to corruption''.

While 70 per cent was the grant in aid to Puducherryfrom the Centre during former Prime Minister A B Vajpayee'stenure, it was cut to 30 per cent when Narayanasamy became aMinister at the Centre, he claimed.

Puducherry went into a debt trap while 76 per cent ofyouth were unemployed and employees belonging to thecooperative sector like Khadi Cooperative Federation have notbeen paid salary for over four years, he claimed.

Assembly elections are expected in April or early Mayin Puducherry.

''When Narayanasamy was a Central minister, he waivedRs 5,000 crore loan of Jharkhand, but did not waive the loanof Puducherry,'' Nadda said adding this was the type of'justice' the present Chief Minister meted out to the UT.

Senior leaders were leaving the Congress, he said andwelcomed them into the Saffron party's fold, expressingconfidence that the 'lotus' was set to bloom in Puducherry andcapture power.

Namasivayam, number 2 in the Narayanasamy cabinet, wasamong those who recently quit the Congress and joined the BJP.

He has accused the chief minister of sidelining seniorCongress leaders.

''Kamalam is going to grow, Kamalam is going to blossomhere in Puducherry...we will win 23 plus seats and will forma government...,'' the BJP national chief said.

He assured the people of a government that would be freeof corruption and focused on development of the unionterritory.

''Several national schemes launched by the Prime Ministerhad led to improvement in welfare of people and changed theirdestiny across the country,'' he said, adding that IT parkswould be developed in Puducherry to provide employmentopportunities to youths.

''Kamalam (lotus) would bring in a big change in the livesof the people in Puducherry and infrastructure projects suchas construction of flyovers in Puducherry and its outlyingregions would be taken up for faster connectivity,'' Naddaadded.

The Puducherry assembly has a total of 33 seats,including three nominated seats. BJP holds all the threenominated seats at present.

''When we are talking about one nation, one ration card,we find that the ration shops are closed in Puducherry,'' hesaid.

While the Centre was for opening more industries tonurture growth, textile mills and industrial units inPuducherry were being closed down in view of 'mismanagement'and 'corruption.' Once the BJP assumes power, salary arrears would bepaid to employees, closed textile mills shall be reopened,sugar factories would be modernised and re-constructed andgood quality roads shall be in place, he assured.

Speaking at the meeting, Namassivayam alleged that theunion territory had fallen into a deep pit due to the'maladministration' by the Narayanasamy government.

''We as a whole in the BJP should ensure that Puducherrywas lifted out of the deep pit it had fallen into because ofthe administration by Chief Minister Narayanasamy,''he said.

Meanwhile, AINRC founder and former chief minister NRangasamy along with his partymen called on Nadda here. It wasdescribed as a 'courtesy call'.