Puducherry is expected to be placed under President's Rule as early as Wednesday. On Monday, the Congress-DMK government of V. Narayanasamy lost a confidence vote in the Assembly.
On Tuesday, Puducherry Lieutenant-Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan's office said the resignation of Narayanasamy had been accepted. A formal communication on imposition of President's Rule from the office of the lieutenant-governor is likely to come on Wednesday.
News 18 reported on Wednesday the BJP and its allies, the NR Congress and AIADMK, had said they would not stake claim to form the government. Elections in the Union territory are due by April-May.
On Monday, BJP Puducherry unit chief V. Saminathan had said the BJP-led NDA would form the government in Puducherry after the polls in alliance with the AIADMK and NR Congress.
Narayanasamy's government fell after two more Congress MLAs resigned on February 21. A total of six Congress MLAs have quit the legislature in the past month, pushing the Narayanasamy dispensation into a minority.
On Tuesday, expectations were running high in opposition circles in Puducherry. While the NR Congress and followers of its leader, N. Rangasamy, expected him to stake claim to form the government, the BJP camp too was expecting good news on their side. Sources in the NR Congress said that Rangasamy was not willing to take over as the chief minister for two reasons: One being the term would end within three months and two, he would not be able to face the people as it could create a negative image for him. Rangasamy, if sworn in as the chief minister, would have faced the charges of toppling a government by joining hands with the BJP.
As of now, the BJP is a very small player in Puducherry with Congress rebels as its faces. On the other side, Rangasamy is also not willing to extend support to the BJP and his own relative Namasivayam to be sworn in as the chief minister. Though Namasivayam has his own chief ministerial ambitions, Rangasamy feels that his support for him might also erode NR Congress’s chances of coming to power after elections. And BJP too doesn’t want to run the government for a brief period. In the meantime, the AIADMK has categorically said that it will not stake claim to form the government. In a statement issued on Tuesday, AIADMK legislative party leader Anbalagan said, “We don’t have any idea to form the government now because only 10 days are left; election notification will come now. We will face the election and democratically form the government.”
The BJP seems to be waiting for developments in Puducherry as party seniors like C.T. Ravi have been camping there, so that the situation can be turned in favour of the saffron party. On the face of it, though Operation Lotus was successful in Puducherry, the BJP, despite all the political manoeuvring, has not been able to capture power.
(With inputs from Lakshmi Subramanian)
