PUDUCHERRY: Trouble is once again brewing in Puducherry with the ruling Congress fighting tooth and nail against the appointment of three BJP men as nominated MLAs, even as the BJP seems to be working towards destabilising the Congress government. According to some political analysts, even before setting foot in the House, the BJP is attempting to get certain Congress and DMK MLAs disqualified for holding ‘the office of profit’.
Sources further said that on the directions of BJP leadership, a petition has been submitted to President Pranab Mukherjee seeking disqualification of MLAs who were holding the post of chairman in Boards and Corporations. Seven MLAs including five Congress legislators and two DMK legislators had been appointed as chairmen of PSUs, with the tenure of some of them already expired. Meanwhile, the government is planning to extend the tenure of a few.
At present, the ruling Congress has 15 members and it is supported by two DMK members and one Independent member. The opposition comprises of eight AINRC legislators, four AIADMK members. Even if the three nominated members are added to the opposition side, Congress stays ahead in the number game. Under these circumstances, the Congress is fighting it out legally, with the Madras High Court taking up an appeal against the appointments on July 12.
On the other hand, the Assembly Secretariat has adopted delaying tactics in accepting the appointment of nominated MLAs, despite the trio was sworn in at Raj Nivas. Their appointment has not been accepted by the Legislative Assembly Secretariat on technical grounds. The Assembly secretariat on Monday returned a communication sent by the Lt Governor’s secretariat regarding the appointment and swearing in of nominated MLAs. Speaker V Vaithilingam justified the act by stating that he was only following the rules.
As per the rules, the Assembly Secretariat has not received any communication from the “competent authority” about the nomination of members as published in the government notification of the Confidential and Cabinet department. Hence the Assembly Secretariat is not bound by the letter from the Lt Governor’s secretariat. Meanwhile, Lt Governor Kiran Bedi, who has been playing a key role in the issue of nominated MLAs, in turn has informed the Government of India for initiating “appropriate action” and left for Delhi on Monday, the official reason being attending the President’s dinner on Tuesday.
Even though the Assembly secretariat had received a notification on the appointment, the Speaker did not give date for swearing in. It instead sought clarifications from Chief Secretary on the identity of three MLAs as the notification had no mention of father’s name or address of the appointed persons. The chief secretary in turn sought clarification from the Union Home Ministry which issued the orders. The Speaker said he was yet to receive a reply.To keep the political pundits in guessing mode, the Speaker also left for Delhi, understandably to look deeper into the legalities.