Puducherry Legislative Assembly
Puducherry: A month ahead of the polls in the Union Territory, and on the eve of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s scheduled arrival here, the ruling Congress got a setback when yet another party legislator, John Kumar resigned as MLA on Tuesday, making the state government slip into minority.
The Opposition has now demanded a floor test in the House, charging that the V Narayanasamy government has slipped into minority.
On Monday Health Minister Malladi Krishna Rao, who had earlier quit the cabinet of Chief Minister V Narayanasamy, had tendered his resignation from the territorial assembly, while already two legislators- A Namassivayam and E.Theeppainjan — had resigned on January 25, 2021 and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party. Another Congress legislator N.Dhanavelou was disqualified for alleged anti-party activities last year.
Following the resignations of its MLAs, the Congress now has only 10 members in the Puducherry House besides three Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MLAs and an Independent supporting the ruling coalition. The House has the strength of 33 members including three nominated MLAs. At present it has 28 active MLAs. The Opposition comprises three nominated MLAs of the BJP, seven MLAs of NR Congress, and four of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
After today’s development, as the Opposition now gears up for a show of strength in the assembly, the political situation remains fluid in the UT, which earlier used to be a Congress stronghold.
– global bihari bureau
