Puducherry Lt Governor orders assembly floor test on Feb 22 amid Congress’ crisis

On Tuesday, the Congress-led government in Puducherry appeared to have lost majority after a second MLA of the party resigned in two days.

By: Express Web Desk

Chennai | Updated: February 18, 2021 06:42 PM IST

2 min read

Tamilisai Soundararajan was sworn in as Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry on Thursday (Twitter/@DrTamilisaiGuv)

Hours after taking charge as the Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry, Tamilisai Soundararajan Thursday ordered a floor test in the legislative assembly on February 22 to ascertain whether the Congress-led government in the Union Territory has the majority.

Voting will take place by show of hands and the entire proceedings will be videographed.

On Tuesday, the Congress-led government in Puducherry appeared to have lost majority after a second MLA of the party resigned in two days. Late in the evening, the Centre removed the Lieutenant Governor (L-G) of the Union Territory, Kiran Bedi, with whom the government has had a long-running battle. Telangana Governor Soundararajan, a former president of the Tamil Nadu BJP, was given additional charge of Puducherry.

This led to Congress-DMK alliance and the opposition AIADMK-BJP alliance having 14 MLAs each in the House that has a current effective strength of 28. While the Opposition demanded the government’s resignation on Tuesday, Chief Minister V Narayanasamy said he retained majority support.

Explained | What led to Congress’ Puducherry crisis and Kiran Bedi factor

After a meeting of the members of the ruling coalition on Tuesday, the Chief Minister, however, declared there was no need for him to resign. “Our alliance still has the majority. We are united. The Opposition’s charges are unjust, they should realise their weakness. I repeat that our alliance remains strong. We will go ahead with this government as per law,” he said.

From the homepage