Chennai: Exactly a day ahead of Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Puducherry, the Congress government in the Union Territory was in for a brutal shock as the party has lost its majority with four MLAs resigning.
While two MLAs have resigned in the past two days, Congress legislator A John Kumar resigned from the party today morning, citing ‘dissatisfaction with the Congress government’. One more too has resigned, it is learnt.
Sources said that the remaining Congress MLAs including Chief Minister V Narayanaswamy are planning an en masse resignation as the party has now lost its majority. The Opposition are already calling for a floor test asking Narayanaswamy to prove majority.
In a joint press conference at the Secretariat, amid tight security, leaders of the Opposition parties including AIADMK, BJP and N R Congress asked Narayanaswamy to resign.
The former Congress president Rahul Gandhi is slated to kick-start Congressā election campaign in the poll-bound Union Territory of Puducherry on 17 February.
During his visit, Rahul is scheduled to address fishermen in Solai Nagar in Muthialpet Assembly constituency and later interact with students of the Bharathidasan Government College for women.
Kumar, who was the MLA of Kamaraj Nagar constituency, is the fourth Congress lawmaker to quit the party ahead of Rahulās scheduled visit to Puducherry where the Assembly election is due in the next few months.
Earlier on Monday, Puducherry Health Minister Malladi Krishna Rao, who had earlier quit the State cabinet, resigned as a member of the territorial Assembly.
Last month, State’s PWD Minister A Namassivayam resigned from the State cabinet and also from the Assembly after the ruling Congress suspended him from primary membership for ‘anti-party activities’.
Congress legislator E Theepainthan also quit from the Assembly. After John’s resignation, the strength of the ruling Congress in the Union territory has come down to 10 in the House of 30 MLAs. The Congress had bagged 14 Assembly seats in the last polls in the state. The party has the support of two DMK MLAs and an Independent.