Puducherry govt to face floor test on Feb 22, Narayanasamy confident of win

Puducherry lieutenant governor Tamilisai Soundararajan has asked the Narayanasamy government to prove its majority on Monday (February 22).

The lieutenant governor’s move follows a letter from the opposition parties, lead by NR Congress leader N Rangaswamy, submitted to the governor’s special officer Theva Neethi Das on February 17.

Soundararajan took charge as Lieutenant Governor on Wednesday (February 17) after Kiran Bedi was suddenly removed.

Resignation of four Congress MLAs has made it evident that the Congress government has lost the strength required to continue, but Chief Minister V Narayanasamy has not given up yet.

Puducherry assembly strength is 30, in which the Congress had 15 members till four of them resigned. The DMK has three with one independent member. Together they were just past the majority mark of 16.

After the four resignations, the Narayanasamy government and the opposition stand at 14 members each. The Congress has 10 members, leaving the government one short of the majority mark, which is now 15 with the assembly strength dropping to 28.

Puducherry, along with neighbouring Tamil Nadu, will go to polls in May.

“We don’t know if we will win or lose. Our next course of action would be decided after voting,” said Congress MLA VP Sivakolunthu.

AIADMK MLA V Manikandan said, “We do not aim to topple the government, but we want to ensure that the government behaves in a democratic and constitutional manner.”

The Congress has 10 members with 3 DMK members supporting them. “The one independent MLA has not given any written assurance on supporting the Narayanasamy government. In all these years, he hasn’t given any statement in support of the government. So they should not consider that he will support the Congress. Similarly, the speaker has no voting power. Hence, he too should not be included. So we see the Congress has only 12 members and it clearly lacks the required strength to continue the government,” Manikandan said.

Nominated BJP MLA V Saminathan said the Narayanasamy government has lost its majority and the floor test will prove this once again.

“After Narayanasamy resigns, the NDA will meet and decide its future course of action. As far as the upcoming budget is concerned, even if there is no government the officers themselves can pass the bills. There are provisions to do it,” he said.