The spectre that has haunted the small states in the North-East and the bigger ones like Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh has visited Puducherry also, resulting in the fall of the Congress-DMK government. Chief Minister V Narayanaswamy resigned on Monday as he lost his majority in the Assembly after a series of resignations of Congress and DMK MLAs.
It was clear that he would not survive the floor test ordered by Lt. Governor Tamilisai Soundarajan, who is holding charge of Puducherry after Kiran Bedi was removed from the position of Lt. Governor of the Union Territory last week. The Opposition had sought a floor test after the ruling party’s strength depleted with the many resignations from the House of 30 members. The Assembly also has three nominated members who sided with the BJP, and they tilted the scale against the Congress government.
Narayanaswamy has said that the Centre and the Opposition NR Congress and AIADMK had ousted him with the help of the nominated members who, as per the Speaker’s ruling, had voting power. But the fact also remains that the Congress could not hold its fold together, just as it failed to do so elsewhere in the country. Nominated members have all the rights of other members but it is a contentious issue whether they can exercise their voting right in a floor test.
Opinion on the matter is divided though there are rulings, including a Supreme Court ruling, that there is no provision that denies a nominated member the right to vote on the Budget or a no-confidence motion. But whether it is right and ethical for nominated members to take part in an important trial of strength is open to question because that would mean that a Governor can change the political complexion of an elected Assembly through nominations. The nomination of three members of the BJP in the UT had been objected to by the Congress but the court had cleared it.
With the fall of the Narayanaswamy government, Congress has lost its last tenuous outpost in the South. The political upheaval has taken place a few weeks before the term of the Assembly is to expire, and fresh elections are to be held. The Opposition, including the NR Congress and the AIADMK, are exploring the possibility of forming a new government for the remaining weeks.
This may even be possible with a sympathetic Lieutenant Governor and a favourable central government in place. Narayanaswamy is looking beyond that and hopes that his image as the victim of a destabilisation plan enacted by the Centre would help in the coming elections.