Pondy govt falls; CM resigns before trust vote
Cong leader says Speaker decision ‘invalid’; Oppn not to stake claim now
PUDUCHERRY: The Congress government in Puducherry fell on Monday after Chief Minister V Narayanasamy resigned ahead of the confidence vote in the Assembly with the coalition ministry reduced to a minority due to a spate of resignations of party MLAs and a DMK legislator recently.
Narayanasamy met Lt Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan and submitted the resignation of his four-member cabinet, ahead of the Assembly elections due in April-May. With the exit of the Congress government here, Punjab, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh are the only three states in the country ruled by the party on its own. Holding that Speaker VP Sivakolundhu did not put to vote the motion moved by him for a confidence vote, the Congress veteran said the former’s ruling that it stood defeated was “incorrect and invalid.” Legal experts would be consulted on the matter, he said while dubbing the turn of events, surrounding the issue of voting rights of nominated members, BJP in this case, as a “murder of democracy.”
Earlier, Narayanasamy met Soundararajan and submitted the resignation of his cabinet, even as the ruling side’s strength slid to 11 as against the opposition’s 14. The opposition, led by NR Congress chief and Leader of Opposition N Rangasamy, said it has no plans to stake claim to form government as of now and that discussions would be held. The party position in the assembly was: Congress (9, including Speaker), DMK two, All-India NR Congress 7, AIADMK four, BJP three (all nominated with voting rights) and one independent who has supported the government. Meanwhile, the DMK suspended its functionary K Venkatesan, who resigned as MLA, for ‘violating’ party discipline. Venkatesan, represented Thattanchavadi constituency.