Congress seeks resignation of Puducherry CM following electoral loss in Lok Sabha polls

Former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader V. Narayanasamy has sought the resignation of Chief Minister N. Rangasamy following the defeat of BJP candidate and Home Minister A. Namassivayam from the Puducherry Lok Sabha constituency.

Former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader V. Narayanasamy has sought the resignation of Chief Minister N. Rangasamy following the defeat of BJP candidate and Home Minister A. Namassivayam from the Puducherry Lok Sabha constituency.

Addressing a press conference on Saturday, the former Chief Minister said the victory of Congress candidate V. Vaithilingam in the Lok Sabha polls was a major blow to the Chief Minister and Ministers.

Mr. Vaithilingam had secured a majority in 28 of the 30 Assembly constituencies in the Union Territory. The Congress candidate was able to secure a large number of votes in the Assembly constituencies currently held by Mr. Rangasamy, Mr. Namassivayam and other Ministers. The Congress was also able to retain its Lok Sabha seat by fighting the financial might and administrative machinery of the BJP candidate, he said.

“The Chief Minister should own moral responsibility for the defeat of his Cabinet colleague and resign. The Ministers also have no moral authority to continue in their posts after the defeat in the Lok Sabha polls,” the Congress leader said.

People have overwhelmingly voted for the Congress candidate as they were upset with the performance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Cabinet headed by Mr. Rangasamy in Puducherry. The Chief Minister has remained silent on the issue of Statehood for the Union Territory for the past three years, though he had promised to fight for this during his 2021 Assembly election campaign, the Congress leader said.

“Along with Chief Minister’s silence on the Statehood issue, the corruption charges, opening of several resto bars and the drug menace have caused anger in the minds of people against the government. Several promises made to the people during the last Assembly election remain only on paper. There is clear anger against the Chief Minister and government,” he said.

Commenting on the performance of BJP at the national level, the Congress leader said people have taught a lesson to the Prime Minister for his “misrule” and “autocratic style of governance”. The government that the Prime Minister was trying to cobble together at the Centre would not last as Mr. Modi was not suited to run a coalition government, he claimed.