New Puducherry LG orders floor test for Narayanasamy government on February 22

PUDUCHERRY: Puducherry Lt Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Thursday directed Chief Minister V Narayanasamy to prove his government’s majority at a special session of the Legislative Assembly to be convened on February 22.

According to a Raj Nivas release, the LG noted that consequent to the disqualification of one MLA and resignation of four MLAs, the strength of the Assembly stood altered with both ruling and opposition parties having 14 members each. Within the ruling front, the Congress has 10, DMK three and independent one, while the opposition NR Congress has seven, AIADMK four and BJP three nominated MLAs.

Therefore in exercise of powers conferred under Article 239 of the Constitution read with provisions of the Government of Union Territories Act,1963 and in consonance to the orders of the Supreme Court in writ petition  © No 439 of 2020 in Shivaraj Chauhan and others versus Speaker Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly and others, the Lt Governor has passed orders directing the summoning of the Legislative Assembly on February 22 and also conveyed this to the Chief Minister.

As per the directions issued, the session will be confined to a single agenda, namely whether the government of the incumbent Chief Minister continues to enjoy the confidence of the house. The voting on the agenda will take place by show of hands and the entire proceedings before the Legislative Assembly will be videographed, she directed.

The floor test will have to be concluded by 5 pm on February 22 and the proceedings should not be adjourned or delayed or suspended at any cost. She further directed all authorities including the Legislative Assembly Secretary to ensure that there is no breach of law and order in the course of the proceedings and that the test is conducted in a peaceful manner.

The LG has directed the Chief Secretary and the DGP to take necessary steps to ensure that there is no restraint or hinderance whatsoever on any of the MLAs in attending the session of the Legislative Assembly and proper law and order arrangements should be made for the conduct of the trust vote.

This development comes after the Leader of Opposition N Rangasamy (NR Congress), AIADMK legislative party leader A Anbazhagan and BJP legislative party leader V Saminathan called on the Lt Governor on Thursday afternoon and reiterated their request for the Narayanasamy government to prove its majority on the floor of the house.

Earlier on February 17, they had submitted a petition signed by 14 opposition MLAs stating that the ruling government has been reduced to a minority and lost its legitimacy to continue and hence made a request that the present government needs to prove its majority on the floor of the Assembly.

Subsequent to this, when Chief Minister V Narayanasamy called on her, the matter pertaining to the opposition plea was discussed by the LG with him, which was confirmed by Narayanasamy on coming out of Raj Nivas.