PUDUCHERRY: The decision of the Puducherry government to file an appeal in the Madras High Court in the Sankararaman murder case and the subsequent sacking of Lieutenant Governor Virendra Kataria has stirred up a hornet’s nest.
While the L-G blamed the officials for presenting the file as an ordinary 302 IPC appeal case signed by Chief Minister N Rangasamy and other officers, AINRC insiders see in it an attempt by the party to align itself with the Tamil Nadu government. The idea is to subsequently build bridges between both governments, particularly after getting poor response from the BJP-led Centre on all fronts. Among the factors that impelled Rangasamy to push for appeal were the TN government’s squeeze through various means, like curbing the free movement of sand to Puducherry and ferrying liquor from Puducherry to Tamil Nadu, which in turn affected revenue.
The decision to file the appeal was taken more than seven months after the verdict was delivered on November 27 last. Initially the Rangasamy government had not shown interest as the case was of no significance to Puducherry. This despite the fact that the TN government had prodded its Puducherry counterpart to file the appeal as early as in December last, sources said.
Rangasamy changed tack because of the NDA government’s attitude towards ally AINRC. When he joined hands with the BJP, his primary objective was to remove all hurdles in his government’s functioning. Though the primary ‘hurdle’ of removing former Union MoS for PMO V Narayanasamy was achieved with his defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, the Centre did not remove his other ‘hurdle’ — Kataria, sources said.
Besides, Rangasamy lobbied for a berth for his party MP in the Union ministry, but failed to make headway. Also the Railway Budget offered nothing to Puducherry. On the other hand, the AIADMK initiated steps to capture power in Puducherry in the 2016 Assembly elections.
The game changed a tad after the Centre sacked the L-G a few days ago. But the approval to file an appeal in the Sankararaman case cannot be reversed, said legal luminaries. Both AINRC and BJP maintain that the sacking of the L-G was not tied to the Sankararaman case.