PUDUCHERRY: CONGRESS GOVT LOSES MAJORITY AS 4TH MLA QUITS
PUDUCHERRY: Puducherry’s V Narayanasamy-led Congress government is now in the minority as one more legislator A John Kumar resigned from the MLA’s post on Tuesday. The strength of the ruling Congress dispensation in the assembly has come down to 10 with the latest resignation, which came a day after health minister Malladi Krishna Rao put in his papers.
PUDUCHERRY: Puducherry’s V Narayanasamy-led Congress government is now in the minority as one more Congress legislator A John Kumar, a close confidant of the CM resigned from the MLA’s post on Tuesday. The strength of the ruling Congress dispensation in the assembly has come down to 10 with the latest resignation, which came a day after health minister Malladi Krishna Rao put in his papers.
The assembly has 30 elected seats and three nominated seats.
Kumar, who was elected from the Kamaraj Nagar constituency in 2019 bypoll, is the fourth Congress lawmaker to quit the party ahead of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s visit to the Union territory as part of preparations for the assembly polls in April-May this year.
John Kumar called on Speaker V P Sivakolundhu at his office and handed over his handwritten letter of resignation, official sources said.
The Speaker told PTI he was perusing the letter and would take a decision soon.
He said he had received Malladi Krishna Rao’s resignation letter from the House through fax on Monday night.
Two ministers, A Namassivayam and E Theepaindan, earlier resigned in January and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Another Congress lawmaker, N Dhanavelu, was disqualified in July for anti-party activities.
In the 2016 polls, Congress won 15 seats in the 30-assembly. It has the support of three Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam lawmakers and independent legislator N Ramachandran.
The opposition All India NR Congress has seven seats and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam four. The BJP has three nominated members in the House.
The Congress has earlier lost power in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka after the resignations of its lawmakers.
Gandhi is scheduled to address a public meeting in Puducherry during his day-long visit on Wednesday. He will be in poll-bound Tamil Nadu for three days from February 27.
On the opposition side, All India N R Congress (AINRC has seven members while All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham (AIADMK) has four and the Bharatiya Janata party three who are nominated members.
Chief Election Commissioner of India (CEC) Sunil Arora has said that the election will be held at the same time in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. However, the dates of the polls are yet to be announced.