Pressure on us to topple Pondy government: Congress MLAs

PUDUCHERRY: Opposition parties - AINRC, AIADMK and BJP - seem to be attempting to topple the Congress government in the Union Territory, if the complaints lodged by two ruling Congress MLAs to the Speaker of Territorial Assembly are any indication.

Speaker V Vaithilingam on Thursday said he received two complaints each from two Dalit MLAs - E Theeppainthan and V  Vizeaveny - on Wednesday that the opposition MLAs and other functionaries were ‘disturbing’  them continuously to act against the Congress government in the UT led by V Narayanasamy. Time to time pressure is being exerted on them, he said.

Though the Speaker did not disclose the contents of the complaints or the nature of the disturbance or names of the parties, sources said the two Dalit MLAs were being lured to resign with huge sums so that the Congress government would be reduced to a minority.  

While the two MLAs have disclosed to government whip R K R Anantharaman before lodgeing complaints with the Speaker, sources said that attempts were being made to lure another two Congress MLAs to resign. The needle of suspicion was already pointing to a Congress MLA who was never seen during the recent dharna staged by the CM and his Cabinet, except on the first day.

At present, in the Assembly, the ruling Congress has the strength of 18, the break-up of which is as follows: The Congress has 15 MLAs and has the support of its ally DMK’s two MLAs and of one independent MLA.