All eyes on CM N. Rangasamy for finding a replacement for dropped Minister in Puducherry

Puducherry Chief Minister N. Rangasamy must balance regional aspirations, caste dynamics in finding replacement for removed Minister S. Chandira Priyanga.

After the removal of Nedungadu legislator S. Chandira Priyanga from the Cabinet, all eyes are on Chief Minister N. Rangasamy’s next move in finding a replacement for her in the Council of Ministers.

Ms. Priyanga, who was holding the portfolios of Transport, Adi Dravidar and Scheduled Tribes’ Welfare, Labour, Economics and Statistics, was removed on the recommendation of the Chief Minister.

Though the Chief Minister is yet to comment on the development, Lt. Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan and Speaker R. Selvam attributed Ms. Priyanga’s removal from the Cabinet to her poor handling of her portfolios.

The replacement is considered a tricky issue, given the complexities involved due to the pressures and pulls from within the Chief Minister’s All India N.R. Congress for the berth. Mr. Rangasamy, according to political sources, is likely to take his own time to conduct the swearing-in for filling the vacancy.

Mr. Rangasamy will have to examine the regional aspirations and caste dynamics in the composition of his Ministry while finding a replacement for Ms. Priyanga, who represented the reserved Nedungadu constituency in Karaikal region. “After Ms. Priyanga’s exit from the Ministry, there is no representation from Karaikal region. The CM will have to represent the region in the Ministry. At the same time, he will have to maintain the caste balance. She belongs to the Dalit community. There is no Dalit member representing his party other than Ms. Priyanga in Karaikal region. The task before the CM is difficult,” said a ruling party member.

For some time now, there have been murmurs of a Cabinet reshuffle. A section of the party, according to a source, wanted the Chief Minister to make use of the situation to effect a reshuffle of his entire Cabinet. If the Chief Minister preferred to go in for a reshuffle, the source said, the process of inducting a new face into the Cabinet could get delayed, as it would necessitate a wider consultation, particularly with the AINRC’s alliance partner, the BJP.

With Parliamentary polls around the corner, the Chief Minister would prefer to fill the vacancy without giving any room for further discord, against the backdrop of the controversy surrounding the charges of caste and gender discrimination and money power made by Ms. Priyanga in her resignation letter, which she had addressed to the Chief Minister.