Cong govt in Puducherry loses majority as one more MLA quits; Bedi eased out of Lt Guv office

In sudden politicaldevelopments, the Congress government in the union territorylost its majority with another ruling party MLA resigning onTuesday, while Lt Governor Kiran Bedi, whose recall has beendemanded by the ruling party for long, was eased out of thepost.

The resignation by John Kumar, who became the fourthlegislator to quit the assembly since last month, reduced thenumbers of the Congress-DMK alliance to 14 in the assemblywith an effective strength of 28, prompting calls by theopposition for resignation of Chief Minister V Narayanasamy.

The strength of the Congress in the assembly hasdecreased to ten including the Speaker. Its ally DMK has threemembers and an independent also supports the government.

The simple majority in the assembly with the reducedstrength is 15 and the opposition also has 14 MLAs in the33-member House.

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 memberhad been disqualified.

In a surprise development late on Tuesday, theRashtrapati Bhavan announced Bedi, who faced several protestsby the ruling Congress against her style of functioning, willcease to hold the office of Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry,just a week after Narayanasamy petitioned President Ram NathKovind, urging him to recall her.

Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan has been giventhe additional charge of Puducherry until regular arrangementsfor the office of Lieutenant-Governor are made, Ajay KumarSingh, press secretary to the President, said in a statementin New Delhi.

Expectedly, Narayanasamy hailed the replacement of Bedi,saying it ''marks victory for the rights of the people''.

Students wing of the Congress burst crackers in theheartof thetown, welcoming Bedi's removal.

Former minister and new BJP entrant A.Namassivayam saidthey were glad that Tamil speaking person Soundararajan hasbeen given the additional charge of Puducherry and expressedconfidence she would help in implementing development schemes.

Principal opposition All-India NR Congress chief NRangasamy said Bedi had adhered to the provisions of thestatutes and no politicalreading intoher replacement wouldbe justified.

Rangasamy said he was glad that a Tamil speaking personhas been assigned the post of Lt Governor.

The decision to remove Bedi, a former IPS officer,appeared to have come as a surprise to many, including the LtGovernor herself, as just a few hours ago she tweeted a videoof her reviewing the COVID-19 vaccination of front lineworkers in the UT with officials over phone and givingdirections for increasing the coverage.

Bedi, also a former BJP member, and Narayanasamy havebeen at loggerheads over various issues ever since she wasappointed Puducherry Lt Governor in May 2016, with the rulingCongress accusing her of going against the decisions of theelected government, a charge denied by her consistently.

Narayanasamy, who recently took part in a protest heredemanding her recall, had on February 10 submitted a detailedmemorandum to the President, complaining that Bedi was'autocratic' and been interfering in the administration,besides 'impeding' the implementation of various proposals ofhis cabinet.

MLA Kumar said he has resigned his Congress membershipalso.

''I am sending the letter to Puducherry Congress Committeechief AV Subramanian,'' Kumar, a confidante of Narayanasamy andwho was elected from the Kamaraj Nagar segment in 2019 bypoll,told PTI.

Party sources indicated he is likely to join the BJP,seen as a repeat of what is happening in West Bengal with theTrinamool 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.

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, saying it was in minority.

''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.

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

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.

''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 mediapersons.

There was no reponse from the DMK to the resignations, andit has stayed away from protests, including against Bedi, heldby the Congress-led Secular Democratic Alliance recently.

The development came a day ahead of Congress leader RahulGandhi's visit to the UT to launch the party's campaign forthe assembly polls, likely in April. The present assembly'sterm ends on June 8, 2021.

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.

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

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

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

PTI COR SKL VGNVS VS