Speaker quits in Puducherry, cites ill-health

Puducherry, Feb. 28: Puducherry Assembly Speaker V.P. Sivakolundhu quit on Sunday citing health reasons even as his brother joined the BJP just over a month ahead of the elections in the union territory.

In the resignation letter to Lt. Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, a copy of which was made available to mediapersons here, Sivakolundhu, a Congress leader, said he quit as Speaker only on health grounds.

Later, he told PTI that hehanded over the letter of resignation addressed to the Lt Governor to the Assembly secretary.

Sivakolundhu won from the Lawspet constituency in the 2016 Assembly elections on a Congress ticket.

Puducherry, Feb. 28: Puducherry Assembly Speaker V.P. Sivakolundhu quit on Sunday citing health reasons even as his brother joined the BJP just over a month ahead of the elections in the Union Territory. In the resignation letter to lieutenant-governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, a copy of which was made available to mediapersons, Mr Sivakolundhu, a Congress leader, said he quit as Speaker only on health grounds. Later, he told PTI that he handed over the letter of resignation addressed to the L-G to the Assembly secretary. Mr Sivakolundhu won from the Lawspet constituency in the 2016 Assembly elections on a Congress ticket. Meanwhile, Mr Sivakolundhu’s brother V.P. Ramalingam joined the BJP in Karaikal in the presence of Union home minister Amit Shah, who is on a campaign visit. Also, former DMK legislator K. Venkatesan and former Congress legislator K. Lakshminarayanan who had quit their MLA posts on February 21 joined the BJP in Karaikal in the presence of Mr Shah who was in Karaikal to address a public meeting. The Puducherry government headed by V. Narayanasamy fell on February 22 after the coalition ministry was reduced to a minority following a spate of resignation of Congress MLAs and a DMK legislator.