BJP taunts Congress as Puducherry govt falls; terms it 'Rahul Gandhi's Midas touch'

Commenting on the diminishing power of Congress in India, BJP I-T chief Amit Malviya, on Monday, pointed that Congress has been shrunk to three states - Punjab, Rajasthan and Chhatisgarh. Taking a dig at the Grand Old party, he said that in Maharashtra and Jharkhand the Congress has been marginalised. Pointing out that Rahul Gandhi recently visited Puducherry, he called it his 'Midas touch' after which the government fell. The Congress-DMK government in Puducherry fell after failing to prove their majority, leading to CM V Narayanasamy resigning from his post.

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

Amit Malviya taunts Rahul Gandhi over Puducherry govt fall

Puducherry L-G acknowledges Narayanasamy resigning as CM; Cong blames 3 nominated BJP MLAs

Congress loses floor test, CM walks out

Minutes after calling for a floor test, the CM and his MLAs walked out before the motion was put for voting. While  Speaker VP Sivakolundhu declared that the motion stood defeated, Narayanasamy submitted the letter of the resignation of the chief minister and his Council of Ministers to Lt. Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan. His decision comes a day after  two more MLAs resigned from the UPA government - Congress' K Lakshminarayanan and DMK's Venkatesan, claiming to be sidelined by the government in its decision-making. 

"Today, we failed the floor test over the confidence motion sought by me, to show that our government has the confidence of the people of the state. In fact, the three nominated members (all BJP MLAs) have no voting right.  After I completed the speech, the issue was raised by Shyanand Raman, stating that the three nominated members were being used by BJP to topple our government, giving a voting right," said the CM.

He added, "The Speaker's ruling is incorrect. BJP govt at the Centre, NR Congress & AIADMK have succeeded in dislodging our govt by using voting power used by 3 nominated members. This is the murder of democracy. The people of Puducherry and this country will teach them a lesson."

Puducherry CM Narayanasamy resigns after failing to prove majority; Huge jolt to Congress

Puducherry crisis

The  Puducherry government faced a crisis as 4 Congress MLAs resigned, pushing the 14-seat government into a minority in the 33-seat Assembly. With 2 more MLAs resigning, Congress has been reduced to 9 seats, while ally DMK has 2 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 - who ordered a floor test on Feb 22.

Puducherry CM Narayanasamy resigns after failing to prove majority; Huge jolt to Congress