PUDUCHERRY: More than eight months after their nomination, the dream of three BJP MLAs to enter the Puducherry Legislative Assembly (PLA) remained unfulfilled even on Monday. Speaker V Vaithilingam not only denied them entry during the three-hour session, but also gave them no chance of participating in the Assembly proceedings anytime soon by adjourning the current session sine die after completing the business on Monday itself. The MLAs will now have to wait till the session is reconvened for the Budget.
Armed with the High Court order which upheld their nomination, the three MLAs — V Saminathan, state BJP president, K G Shankar, party treasurer, and S Selvaganapathy, an educationist and BJP-RSS sympathiser — came to the Legislative Assembly on Monday morning to attend the session. However, they could not proceed beyond the entry gate, which was kept closed.Consequently, all the MLAs, including Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy and Leader of Opposition N Rangasamy, walked into the Assembly after alighting from their vehicles outside the complex.
Though the three MLAs tried to step in while the others were entering the Assembly, they were stopped. When questioned, the Marshal of the Assembly said he was acting as per the orders of the Speaker.
It may be recalled that Vaithilingam on Sunday stated that there would be no change in his earlier decision (taken on November 12, 2017) not to grant recognition to the nominated MLAs, till he scrutinised the order of the High Court with legal experts and arrived at a decision. He was neither heard nor made a party in the writ petition, he pointed out.
“The principles of natural justice have not been followed. The order of the Honourable High Court was passed without hearing me. As such, there is infirmity and lack of Constitutional clarity in the order of Honourable High Court,” the speaker said.
A hope that was short-lived
There was a ray of hope for the three MLAs when news reached them that Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi had arrived to make her address to the Assembly. However, they could not even meet her as the L-G was taken into the Assembly complex through the exit gates, whereas the MLAs were standing outside the entry gates. Though the trio rushed to the exit gates, they could not gain entry since those gates too were immediately closed.
Unable to go inside, the trio then resorted to a dharna in front of the gates. During the protest, one of the MLAs, K G Shankar, fainted on the road. The 65-year-old was rushed to the nearby Indira Gandhi Government General Hospital, where he was taken to the ICU and given treatment.The hospital authorities said his blood pressure was high and it was stabilised after treatment. However, he was kept under observation. The other two nominated MLAs continued with their protest by sitting on chairs under a tree. They withdrew it only after the session was adjourned sine die.
Rajnath makes inquiries
Saminathan said Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had called him and inquired about the developments. He told him they were prevented from entering the House and that they staged a peaceful protest expressing the injustice done to them. The situation was grave since judicial orders were not honoured and this would lead to the people loosing faith in judiciary, he added.
Bedi to take follow up action
Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi said a follow-up action would be taken from the administrative end after it was brought to her notice that the three nominated MLAs were denied entry to the Assembly, despite orders of the First Bench of the Madras High Court. “I am calling for a report from the chief secretary and the Ministry of Home Affairs would be informed accordingly,” said Bedi.