NEW DELHI: Congress in Puducherry failed to prove its majority in the assembly on Monday during a floor test necessitated by a spate of resignations by MLAs over the past one month.
A major setback for chief minister V Narayanasamy came on the eve of the floor test on Sunday when one Congress MLA and an MLA of its ally, the DMK, tendered their resignations.
Congress government fails trust vote: Speaker
Puducherry assembly speaker V P Sivakozhundhu on Monday said that the Narayanasamy government could not prove its majority. The speaker adjourned the house sine die.
Former LG, Centre colluded with opposition to topple govt: Narayanasamy
Ahead of the floor test in Puducherry assembly, chief minister V. Narayanasamy on Monday said that former Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi and the central government colluded with the opposition in a bid to topple his government in the Union territory. "We formed the government with the support of DMK and independent MLAs. After that, we faced various elections. We have won all the by-elections. It is clear that people of Puducherry trust us," he added.
Two more MLAs resign on floor test eve
Chief minister’s parliamentary secretary K Lakshminarayanan and DMK MLA K Venkatesan submitted their resignation letters to the speaker of the legislative assembly V P Sivakozhundhu on Sunday afternoon.
Lakshminarayanan said he decided to quit as he was not given due recognition in the government and the party. Venkatesan said he could not undertake any development work in the last two years in the constituency as the MLA funds were not released.
House strength now stands at 26; Congress 12, opposition 14
The strength of the House now is 26 with seven seats falling vacant. The ruling Congress has nine seats. It has the support of DMK (two) and an independent MLA. On the opposition side, the All India NR Congress (AINRC) has seven seats and AIADMK four. Three BJP functionaries have been nominated as MLAs. While the Congress and ally stands at 12 seats, the opposition alliance has 14.
Puducherry LG directs government to prove majority
Lieutenant governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, who took additional charge of Puducherry last week, directed the Narayanasamy government to prove its majority on the floor of the assembly before 5 pm on February 22. This was after the opposition parties submitted a memorandum claiming that the government had lost its majority following a spate of resignations of Congress MLAs. Sounderarjan replaced Kiran Bedi, who was relieved on February 16.
Cong MLAs’ meet before vote
A Congress MLAs’meet was convened by CM Narayanasamy on Sunday evening to evolve a strategy to save the government ended without arriving at a consensus. “We will meet again and take a final decision before the House convenes at10am on Monday.” Narayanasamy said.
Five Congress MLAs resigned in 30 days
Five Congress MLAs and a DMK MLA have resigned in the last 30 days while a Congress MLA N Danavelu was disqualified last year.
Possible outcomes of floor test
Congress can pass the show of strength if it can prove the majority in the House or if MLAs in the opposition camp decide to skip the floor test.
CM Narayanasamy had claimed that the resignation of two Congress MLAs is yet to be accepted. If it holds true, Congress will have 10 MLAs in the House and will be able to float with DMK's two MLAs.
Congress sources are hopeful that two or three AINRC MLAs who recently turned against the party leadership will skip the floor test to help the government.
On the other hand, the chief minister could also dissolve the assembly and call for an election. It is to be noted that the Puducherry assembly completes its five-year-term in April-May this year.
If Congress fails to prove its numbers, the government will fall. The NR Congress, which has the highest number of seats in opposition, will have a chance to form a government but only for three months before assembly elections.
If nobody succeeds in the floor test, the Union territory will go under President's rule.
(With inputs from agencies)