Leader of the Opposition and AINRC founder N. Rangasamy on Sunday charged the Narayanasamy-headed Congress government in the Union Territory with totally ignoring the development of Karaikal. He said the Congress government had not evolved any scheme for the region in the last three years.
Canvassing for the AINRC nominee K. Narayanasamy in Karaikal, he said that not a single welfare scheme had been introduced for the people after the Congress came to power in 2016 as Mr. Narayanasamy was only busy with the turf war with Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi.
The power struggle that Mr. Narayanasamy was engaged in was unnecessary since the Chief Minister was aware that in a Union Territory, the constitutional power of the Lt. Governor is superior and had full administrative powers, the AINRC founder said.
“The Congress government has failed to implement any welfare scheme for the people in the last three years. People are dissatisfied with the governance and the failure of the government will pave the way for a change in Puducherryt after the Lok Sabha polls,” he said.
Mr. Rangasamy pointed out that when Mr. Narayanasamy was the Central Minister he took the stand that in the U.T., the Lt. Governor had more powers than the elected government. But, now he was speaking in a different voice and all the efforts taken by the AINRC in the past to procure statehood were scuttled by him.
Court ruling
Referring to the recent Supreme Court judgment in a case relating to the powers of an elected government, he said that it had been laid down that the Lt. Governor was more powerful constitutionally. But, the Chief Minister had been blaming the Opposition for his failures.
He recalled that Karaikal was made a separate district during his tenure as Chief Minister.
It was the AINRC that persuaded the Centre and succeeded in its efforts to establish a branch of Jipmer in the region. The AIADMK Member of Parliament N. Gokulakrishnan was chiefly instrumental in ensuring that more than 650 posts were filled in Karaikal.
Although the Centre had approved of ₹450 crore for infrastructure development for the medical college in Karaikal, the Puducherry government had not taken any steps to realise the project.
It was only during the AINRC rule that the government provided 70 acres of land for the Jipmer branch in Karaikal.
Mr. Rangasamy said that it was during his tenure that the National Institute of Technology (NIT) and the Karaikal port were established. If the AINRC candidate was elected to Parliament, he would leave no stone unturned to ensure the overall development of the region, he added.