Yahoo Finance Puducherry: Congress loses trust vote; Narayanasamy resigns as CM
Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy and his cabinet colleagues in the Union Territory resigned on Monday after the Congress government lost the confidence vote sought by him in the face of its depleted strength of 11 against opposition's 14 in the House.
After staging a walkout from the Assembly before the motion seeking confidence vote was put up for voting in the House, Narayanasamy proceeded to the Raj Nivas and submitted his resignation to Lt Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan.
'Myself, ministers, Congress and DMK MLAs and independent legislator have tendered resignation and sought it be accepted,' he told reporters but did not answer queries on the next course of action.
Earlier, the government was supported by the DMK MLAs and the independent legislator.
An Opposition MLA interrupted CM Narayansamy during his address, asking why he was talking like addressing a public meeting. The Speaker then asked the MLA to sit down and allow CM to speak.
Chief Minister V Narayanasamy's government plunged into a crisis after back-to-back resignations. It meant Narayanasamy no longer has the majority needed to continue in his chair.
Moving the motion, the chief minister told the Assembly that his government had the majority.
Apparently referring to former Lt Governor Kiran Bedi constantly being at loggerheads with him on administrative matters, he said that he had however, delivered for the union territory, including effectively handling the Covid-19 pandemic.
He lashed out at Bedi, saying she had 'conspired' against the government on matters including revenue generation.
'Those rejected by people cospired to topple our government but we stayed firm due to our resilience,' he said.
Ahead of the trust vote, Narayanasamy claimed that the Congress government has a majority in the Union Territory. Accusing the Opposition of trying to topple the government, the CM said, “Former LG Kiran Bedi and Central Government colluded with the Opposition and tried to topple the government. It is clear that the people of Puducherry trust us. This is a government elected by the people.”
After a series of resignation, the Congress-DMK have 12 MLAs (including an Independent who is supporting the government) in the House whose effective strength is now 26, while the opposition alliance has 14 MLAs.
Currently, though, the numbers are heavily stacked against the government. The Congress has nine MLAs, including the Speaker, and DMK two while the government also enjoys the support of one Independent MLA. The Opposition alliance has seven MLAs of All India NR Congress and four of AIADMK, apart from three nominated MLAs from BJP. With just three months left for Assembly polls, there are also reports of the Congress “holding talks” with some AIADMK MLAs to save the government.
Addressing the Assembly during a special session on Monday, 22 February, ahead of a floor test ordered by Lieutenant Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy insisted that he has a majority, as he sought a confidence vote.
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