Puducherry CM meets with ally DMK; says 'Will reveal our strategy on Assembly Floor'

Ahead of the crucial floor test, Puducherry CM V Narayanaswmi has stated that he will reveal his strategy on the floor of the Assembly. This statement comes after the CM met with his alliance partners amid the massive exodus of MLAs. With the exit of 6 MLAs, the Congress government has been reduced to a minority of 12 MLAs (9 Congress, 2 DMK, 1 Independent) in the 33-member assembly, ahead of the floor test on Monday. The CM has alleged that BJP was attempting to bring down his democratically elected government, ahead of polls in the Union Territory in April-May.

Puducherry CM hails ouster of L-G Kiran Bedi as 'victory of people'; hits out at Centre

Puducherry CM to resign?

Earlier in the day, two more MLAs resigned from the UPA government - Congress' K Lakshminarayanan and DMK's Venkatesan tendering their resignation to the speaker. Both MLAs claimed to be sidelined by the government in its decision-making. Newly sworn-in L-G Tamilisai Soundararajan had directed the CM to prove his majority via floor test on February 22 after the Opposition requested her.

2 more MLAs resign from Congress-DMK alliance in Puducherry ahead of floor test

Puducherry crisis

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 (nominated) 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.

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Puducherry CM Vs L-G Kiran Bedi

Narayanasamy and Bedi have been at loggerheads over various issues concerning the governance in the Union Territory, since she was appointed as L-G in May 2016. While Congress accused her of going against the decisions of the state government, the ex-IPS officer maintained that she was discharging her duties as per law. Recently, Puducherry CM  staged a 4-day agitation from January 8 followed by a day-long hunger strike on February 5 in which members of several parties including the CM participated. They reiterated the demand that either Bedi should quit on her own or the Centre should recall her. Escalating the matter further, Narayanasamy submitted a memorandum to President Ram Nath Kovind on February 10 urging him to remove Bedi, saying she was running a ''tughlaq durbar". Narayanswamy has alleged that Bedi had not sanctioned 39 government proposals, including a free rice scheme.

Puducherry CM says "BJP trying to bring down his govt" as L-G orders floor test on Feb 22