Puducherry Assembly to reassemble for special session on February 22 ahead of floor test

In the latest development, the Puducherry Assembly will reassemble for a special session on 22 February, R Mounissamy, the Secretary of the Assembly informed on Saturday. The Narayanaswamy-led Congress government in the UT is on the verge of losing majority after facing a spur of resignations from the party and has been ordered by Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan to prove his majority in the Assembly by 22 February. While Narayanaswamy has remained confident of retaining power and has refused to dissolve his cabinet, the BJP has claimed that more Congress MLAs were bound towards the saffron party in the future and expressed confidence in coming to power in the Union Territory.

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Floor test in Puducherry

Earlier in the day, N Rangasamy, AIADMK MLA A Anbalagan and BJP MLA V Saminathan met Soundararajan personally and reiterated their request for the current government to prove its majority on the floor of the House. Consenting to this demand, Soundararajan directed that a special Assembly session will be summoned on February 22 only for the purpose of conducting the trust vote. Mentioning that voting must take place by show of hands, she made it clear that the proceedings shall not be delayed beyond 5 pm at any cost.

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The  Puducherry government is currently undergoing a crisis as 4 Congress MLAs resigned, pushing the 14-seat government into a minority in the 33-seat Assembly. With 4 MLAs resigning, Congress has been reduced to 10 seats, while ally DMK has 3 seats and 1 Independent MLA. Meanwhile, the Opposition has 14 seats - AINRC has 7 seats, BJP has 3 seats and AIADMK has 4 seats. 5 seats lie vacant.

Congress MLAs - A Namassivayam, E.Theeppainjan, Malladi Krishna Rao, John Kumar have cited dissatisfaction with the current government as the reason for their exit - a day ahead of ex-Congress chief Rahul Gandhi's visit. While  A Namassivayam, E.Theeppainjan have already joined BJP, Congress is in a huddle to tackle the situation. Amidst this crisis, President Kovind relieved L-G Kiran Bedi of her duties, replacing her with Soundararajan.

READ | 3 More Cong MLAs To Quit In Puducherry, Govt Sure To Lose Trust Vote: BJP

3 more Cong MLAs likely to join BJP in Puducherry

Three more Congress MLAs are set to resign from the Assembly in Puducherry, a key BJP leader claimed on Friday even as he asserted that the beleaguered V Narayanasamy government would lose the trust vote. Two of the four Congress MLAs who quit the House - A Namassivayam and E Theeppainthan have already joined the BJP. BJP in-charge of the Union Territory, Nirmal Kumar Surana said the other two Congress MLAs - Malladi Krishna Rao and A John Kumar would join the J P Nadda-led party. "The two will be joining the BJP. They are speaking with our leadership," Surana, also Vice-President of Karnataka unit of the BJP, told PTI.

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