CM Narayanasamy alleges PM Modi, Lt Bedi have hidden agenda of merging Puducherry with TN

Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy on Friday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi of attempting to dismantle the separate status of the poll-bound union territory and merging it with the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu.

"The Prime Minister and the Lieutenant Governor, along with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have been slowly depriving Puducherry government of its powers and impeding several welfare and developmental schemes proposed by the elected government. If merged, Puducherry would be reduced to a status of a district like Villupuram or Cuddalore," the CM said. 

Narayanasamy was addressing the participants of a day-long fast in protest against Kiran Bedi when he claimed that there was a threat of merging Puducherry with Tamil Nadu. The CM appealed to the people to be wary of BJP's hidden agenda and asserted that they would be safe only in the hands of the Secular Democratic Alliance (SDA) government.

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Repeated allegations against Centre

This is not the first time Narayanasamy has alleged that the NDA government at the Centre is planning to "dismantle" the separate status of Puducherry and merge it with neighbouring states. Sounding the poll bulge, the Chief Minister was seen raising similar allegations in December.

Claiming that the Centre had already reduced Jammu and Kashmir from a State to a Union Territory, CM Narayanasamy said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is now turning his eyes towards Puducherry. He asked the people to ensure that the Congress-led alliance was elected to power in the 2021 Assembly polls, to avoid the merger. 

 "We will not remain silent spectators and would even sacrifice our lives to protect the separate status of Puducherry," the CM had said.

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