Puducherry CM should clarify Speaker’s statement on additional Central assistance: Narayanasamy

The former Puducherry CM said Speaker R. Selvam’s statement about financial assistance to the tune of ₹1,450 cr to the UT needed an explanation; he claimed the Speaker was acting as a “super CM of the UT”

Chief Minister N. Rangasamy should give an explanation of the statement attributed to Speaker R. Selvam that the Centre has agreed to provide additional financial assistance of ₹ 1,450 crore to the Union Territory, former Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy said in Puducherry on Thursday.

“It is good for the UT if the Centre has provided the financial assistance. But such announcements should be made by the Chief Minister and not by the Speaker. The Speaker is acting as another super Chief Minister of the UT. We don’t know how many super Chief Ministers there are in Puducherry now,” the senior Congress leader quipped, while addressing a press conference.

Seeking more clarity on the statement made by the Speaker, the former Chief Minister said the government owed [the public] an explanation about whether any such additional allocation has been made by the Centre for the UT. “If the Centre has allotted [the funds], the government should state whether the allocation has been made as a grant, additional package or under any specific scheme,” Mr. Narayanasamy said.

The Speaker, he said, had, in the past too, made similar statements on the construction of a new Assembly complex and about the visit by the Prime Minister to the UT to inaugurate a national flag hoisted on a 100-ft pole on Beach Road. But nothing had happened with regard to both these announcements, he added.

Mr. Narayanasamy also said he had gone through the book sent across by Lt Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan showcasing her work in Telangana as Governor, to show that the Open House convened at the Raj Nivas was an extension of her practice of meeting the public there. However, the book did not mention anything to suggest that she was meeting the public at the Raj Bhavan in Telangana to address their grievances, he added.

Challenging her to make a public announcement that she would meet the public at Raj Bhavan in Telangana, the former Chief Minister said the Governors and Lt. Governors appointed by the BJP were overstepping their Constitutional responsibilities. Ms. Soundararajan would not be able do open house meetings in Telengana as Governor as it would be opposed by the TRS government there, he said.

“The Governors and Lt Governors are bound by the Constitution to work as per the aid and advice of the Cabinet. The Lt. Governor should not interfere in the day-to-day administration of the elected government,” he said