N. Rangaswamy
Assembly Elections 2021: Puducherry
By Venkatesh Raghavan
Puducherry: The 2021 elections for the union territory of Puducherry reached an interesting stage with the Bharatiya Janata Party’s star campaigner and Union Home Minister Amit Shah announcing that a BJP Chief Minister will come to power in the forthcoming hustings slated for April 6. This has obviously ruffled the feathers of the BJP’s ally the All Indian N. Rangaswamy Congress (AINR Congress). The AINR Congress chief N. Rangaswamy has not taken kindly to this remark and it might result in Puducherry witnessing a four-cornered contest in its April hustings.
While the issue of chief ministership is yet unresolved between the allies, the BJP led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is slated to win the numbers game with anywhere upward of 15 to 20 seats in the 30-member assembly. News pouring in from media survey reports specified that these numbers will stand provided the BJP refrains from thwarting Rangaswamy’s Chief Ministerial ambitions. The poll results in Puducherry will be announced on May 2. The fortunes predicted for the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) puts them below the half-way mark in the number of seats, anywhere between 10 to 14 to be precise.
Looking at the voting results of the previous polls in 2016, the situation seems to have undergone a mutative effect. The NDA had captured 12 seats in the polls whereas the Congress-led UPA had grabbed 17 seats, and the remaining seat went in favour of an independent. Though the NDA has reasons to be optimistic with the poll surveys reported in media channels and other press, Rangaswamy’s reaction to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement is still awaited and can well tilt the balance in favour of the UPA if the AINR Congress decides to go solo for the forthcoming assembly polls.
Reacting to the surveys published in media reports, former chief minister V Narayanaswamy who is also in contention for the chief minister’s post took a guarded stand, stating, “It’s left to the people of Puducherry to decide on this. Besides, I am unaware of how these figures have been arrived at.”
As of now, survey reports indicate that almost a third of the population in Puducherry expressed dissatisfaction with the previous Congress-DMK coalition government. Popular perception is that Rangaswamy is likely to gain his lost ground and become chief minister again. Narayanaswamy still has clout but is placed second in the race for chief ministership.
It may be recalled that Narayanaswamy’s tenure that got terminated in late February 2021 was witness to frequent squabbles he had with the then Lt Governor Kiran Bedi. It finally culminated in Bedi having to remit office shortly before his resignation was mandated by loss of the floor test in the Puducherry assembly. Bedi was removed following a delegation of Congress legislators meeting President Ramnath Kovind in New Delhi and submitting a detailed complaint against her demeanour.
