Cong govt in Puducherry loses majority as one more MLA quits; Opp demands resignation

The Congress government in theunion territory lost its majority with another ruling partylegislator resigning on Tuesday, reducing the numbers of theparty-led alliance to 14 in the assembly with an effectivestrength of 28.

Seizing on the opportunity, the opposition which also has14 MLAs in the 33-member house, demanded the resignation ofChief Minister V Narayanasamy, saying his government was inminority.

However, Narayanasamy rejected the demand, claiming thathis government continued to enjoy 'majority' in the assembly,which is set to go for polls in the next few months.

Congress MLA A John Kumar resigned from his MLA post andthe party on Tuesday, becoming the fourth legislator to quitthe assembly since last month, dealing a blow ahead of theelections.

With Kumar's resignation, the strength of the Congress inthe assembly has decreased to ten including Speaker. Its allyDMK has three members and an independent also supports thegovernment.

The simple majority in the assembly with the reducedstrength is 15.

Polls are likely in April and the House's term ends onJune 8, 2021.

The development came a day ahead of Congress leader RahulGandhi's visit to the union territory to launch the party'scampaign.

The party position in the assembly as of Tuesday:Congress (ten), DMK three, All-India NR Congress seven, AIADMKfour, BJP three (all nominated and have voting rights) and oneindependent.

Four Congress MLAs have resigned while one member hadbeen disqualified.

''I have resigned from the party as well. I am sending theletter to Puducherry Congress Committee chief AV Subramanian,''Kumar, a confidante of Narayanasamy and who was elected fromthe Kamaraj Nagar segment in 2019 bypoll, told PTI.

Party sources indicated that Kumar is likely to join theBJP, seen as a repeat of what is happening in West Bengal withthe Trinamool Congress, though not on a similar scale here.

Last month, addressing a poll rally here, BJP nationalchief J P Nadda slammed the Congress for alleged rampantcorruption and vowed to capture power in the union territoryby winning 23 plus seats out of the 30.

The exodus of Congress MLAs started with the resignationof then Minister A Namassivayam and E Theeppainjan last monthwith the two later joining the BJP.

Malladi Krishna Rao, also a Minister, resigned from thegovernment and also as MLA on Monday.

Another Congress MLA N Dhanavelou was disqualified foralleged anti-party activities in July last year.

Namassivayam had mounted a scathing attack onNarayanasamy, accusing him of suppressing senior leaders.

Leader of the Opposition in the assembly N Rangasamy, whofloated the AINRC after breaking away from the Congress in2011, on Tuesday demanded the resignation of the Narayanasamyministry.

''The government has lost its majority in the wake ofresignations of legislators of ruling party. Chief Ministershould quit office voluntarily owning moral responsibility,''he told reporters here.

Narayanasamy, meanwhile, claimed his government 'hasmajority' in the House.

''All our legislators are united. The demand of theopposition for government's resignation is not genuine... Wewill function in consonance with the provisions of theConstitution,'' he told the media.

Flanked by AIADMK and BJP leaders, (the two partieswere AINRC's allies during previous polls), Rangasamy said ifthe government did not resign his party would take forward itsaction plan to press for its ouster.

AIADMK legislature party leader A Anbalagan told PTIhe concurred with Rangasamy and said the Chief Minister shouldquit without any further loss of time.

John Kumar called on Speaker V P Sivakolundhu at hisoffice and handed over his handwritten letter of resignation.

The Speaker has accepted the resignations of Kumar andRao, sources in the Assembly said.

The Congress had won 15 assembly seats in the 2016polls.