Puducherry Pradesh Congress Committee president A. Namassivayam, who is the second in command in the Narayanasamy Ministry, has said that the BJP had been trying to rope in “politically abandoned” leaders to gain some foothold in the Union Territory but the saffron party would not succeed in its effort as the electorate here nurtures a strong affinity to the Congress ideology.
“The Congress is strong enough to defeat the designs of the saffron party,” he added.
Mr. Namassivayam, who spoke to The Hindu on the ongoing revamp of the PCC, said the BJP was a non-starter in the political sphere of the Union Territory and it would remain so in future despite its efforts to “recruit politically abandoned leaders” into its fold.
“They are trying to get some politically extinct leaders into their fold. The culture of the UT is entirely different and the people here are ideologically oriented to the Congress," said Mr. Namassivayam, who was a strong contender for the Chief Minister's post after the Congress-DMK alliance swept to power in the last Assembly elections.
New faces likely
Mr. Namassivayam, who holds the portfolio of Public Works in the Ministry, said once the revamp of PCC was over the party would induct new faces. Citing the induction of a N.R. Congress functionary from Kadirgamam constituency, the PCC chief said several other prominent faces would join the party in the near future.
On the PCC revamp, he said the new list of office-bearers till the block level had been prepared and now the process was on to revamp the district-level committees.
“The PCC is involved in the revamp process only till the district level. The appointment of new office-bearers in the executive committees of the PCC is done by the party high command,” he said. There were several vacancies in the PCC, including vice-president and treasurer posts, he said and added that the vacant posts would be filled by the party President. “We will complete the process by the end of this month and the list will be send to the high command by end of this month,” he added.
He was non-committal when asked whether there would be any change in the position of PCC president.
Going by the one man one post formula, approved by the All India Congress Committee at its Jaipur conclave held in 2013, a Congress person holding a Ministerial position could not hold dual position. “It is not clear whether there will be a change in the PCC taking into account the happenings after the Assembly elections. Caste equation is a factor within the party,” said a senior Congress functionary.