Puducherry Politics: Congress-led Narayanasamy government fails to prove majority

When assembly elections are just two months away, Puducherry has been going through political turmoil. The government led by the Congress Party has fallen short of the majority mark in the floor test and is out of power now.

The Assembly has a total strength of 33 MLAs and the number of Congress Party’s members and its ally parties was reduced to 12.

During the floor test, the Congress and its allies staged a walkout which prompted the speaker to announce that the Congress-led ruling party has lost its majority.

The political drama unfolded after Congress MLAs went on a resignation spree one after the other and posed a threat to the survival of the government.

The situation went out of control for Chief Minister V Narayanasamy when two of its MLAs resigned on Sunday.

Congress MLA K Lakshminarayanan and DMK MLA K Venkatesan tendered their resignation to the Puducherry Assembly Speaker VP Sivakozhundu on February 21.

It was apparent from the current numbers the government would not survive.

Narayanasamy accused the BJP and said that the opposition parties rejected by the people have joined together to topple the elected government.

“The BJP-led Centre has dethroned elected governments in several states. It failed in Rajasthan, and now they are attempting the same in Puducherry,” Narayanasamy said in the assembly during the floor test.

He added, “MLAs should stay loyal to the party. MLAs who have resigned will not be able to face the people as people will call them opportunists.”

He also accused BJP of forcing Hindi in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.