Soundarajan named LG of Puducherry
CHENNAI: The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) former Tamil Nadu state chief Tamilisai Soundarajan will on Thursday assume charge as Lieutenant Governor (LG) of the union territory of Puducherry, where the Congress-led government of V Narayanaswamy was reduced to a minority on Tuesday ater four MLAS quit the ruling party.
Even as Narayanaswamy firmly rejected resignation and insisted he has majority support, the Centre moved to dump incumbent Kiran Bedi and give additional charge to Soundararajan, who is the Governor of Telangana.
The replacement is seen as the BJP’S determination to seize Puducherry, a Tamil majority territory that was under French rule until 1954 and has a strong European flavour.
Bedi, a former Indian Police Service Officer who earned a reputation as Delhi police commissioner, is seen as politically insufficient to implement the BJP agenda. Hence Soundararajan was chosen.
The BJP wants to ensure that the Congress government is eased out.
It is reported that Bedi refused to press Narayanaswamy to call a floor test, in which the BJP hopes to topple him.
Bedi, who was appointed in 2016, is known to have kept the local BJP leaders away though she picked up fights with the CM as she tried to interfere with the working of the elected government. In fact the local BJP unit recently told Union Home Minister Amit Shah that she has to go.
Bedi wasn’t supportive in efforts at toppling the Congress government. As the defections began to affect the government, the national leadership of the BJP decided that she needs to be removed so that their agenda can be expedited.
Bedi was abruptly removed by President Ramnath Govind on Tuesday night.
Narayanaswamy, meanwhile, alleged that the BJP is hunting down Congress MLAS to overthrow the government.
The Congress party had won 11 seats in the 30-member assembly in the 2016 general elections. Its Tamil Nadu ally DMK offered support of its three MLAS. An Independent member added up to 15.
Since two Congress MLAS also quit the assembly, the strength was reduced to 28, which means the majority mark is 15.
The ruling party has 14 with the support of DMK 3, an independent MLA. It’s a tie with the opposition.