Narayanasamy hails landslide victory of secular alliance in local bodies polls in T.N.

Congress leader condemns decision to reconvene the Assembly for a single day

Former Chief Minister and Congress leader V. Narayanasamy has hailed landslide victory of the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance in the urban local bodies elections in Tamil Nadu. In a virtual press conference, Mr. Narayanasamy said he wished that the SPA, led by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. K. Stalin and other leaders, remain strong and continue to deliver good governance to the people. In Puducherry, Mr. Narayanasamy said that the completion of one year in office of the Lt. Governor also marked the anniversary of a ‘Black Day’ in the history of the Union Territory when the BJP at the Centre abused the Central agencies to threaten Congress leaders, including Ministers, to resign and topple a democratically elected government, as it had done elsewhere under the ‘Operation Lotus’. However, to the exception of one Congress leader, others, who deserted the party and joined the BJP in search of spoils of power, were left on the wayside now, he said. Chief Minister N. Rangasamy, whose AINRC allied with the BJP-led NDA, had promised the moon during electioneering and woed votes in the name of securing Statehood, waiver of legacy loans and other assurances with the NDA in power at the Centre and in Puducherry, he said. However, in the nine months of the NDA government here, it has become clear to various sections of the society that all those poll promises were a sham, Mr. Narayanasamy said. None of the assurances given by the Chief Minister in the Assembly, whether it was reopening of mills and ration shops, job creation, payment of salary arrears to government staff or regularisation of workers, had been implemented, the Congress leader said. Apart from empty promises, no notable development was happening in Puducherry. There is a governance paralysis in Puducherry and “an unconcerned Mr. Rangasamy was becoming an announcement CM”, Mr. Narayanasamy alleged. The Congress leader condemned the decision to reconvene the Assembly for a single day merely to meet the procedural requirement thereby shutting out opportunities for members to raise issues. Mr. Narayanasamy also wanted to know the Lt. Governor’s specific contribution over the past year of bringing in more Central funds or schemes to the Union Territory as all that was being done was to claim credit for measures that were actually initiated, but blocked by the then Lt. Governor, Kiran Bedi, during the term of the previous Congress government, from opening buildings, laying foundation stone for road widening to the Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Manimandapam project.