PUDUCHERRY: Even as the case filed by Congress MLA K Lakshminarayanan against the appointment of three nominated MLAs is pending in court, the three BJP members nominated to the Territorial Assembly by the Centre have threatened to move the court if they were not provided with office and other provisions by the assembly secretariat.
They submitted a petition seeking these facilities to the assembly secretary Vincent Rayar for the second time and urged him to allot them office on the assembly premises and also seats for them in the assembly.
The Union Home Ministry had nominated two BJP functionaries – V Saminathan (the party’s state president), K G Shankar (its treasurer) and a party sympathiser Selvaganapathy without the knowledge of the local Congress government led by Chief Minister V Narayanasamy.
Thereafter, when Speaker V Vaithilingam sought clarity on the identification of the trio, as the notification had only their names and not their surname or address, Lt. Governor Kiran Bedi hurriedly swore them in secretly at Raj Nivas.
Refusing to accept their nomination and oath taking, the Secretariat sent their files back to Bedi on July 10, stating that there was no information from the “competent authority.” It maintained that neither the nomination nor the swearing-in was valid and denied the trio any facility in the House. Thereupon, both the Speaker and the L-G visited Delhi and returned with neither stating anything further on the issue.