Puducherry Chief Minister N Rangasamy has toed the line of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa by skipping the Chief minister’s conference on internal security convened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The Union Territory was represented by the Chief Secretary Chetan B Sanghi and Inspector General of Police Ranveer Singh Krishnia.
The Chief Minister’s decision assumes significance as it comes after Rangasamy coming out openly against the Central government during the launch of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) for LPG subsidy on June 1. In fact, he had endorsed the AIADMK MLA’s view point that DBT would not bring any benefits for the beneficiaries but, on the contrary, would lead to trouble and harassment.
Rangasamy had expressed that schemes were thrust on the UT and he was unable to thwart schemes that were not in the interest of people and had to follow the Centre’s directives.
Rangasamy’s attitude towards the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre too had undergone a sea change. Vouching strongly for statehood, he even said that if necessary, he along with all political parties supporting statehood would resort to agitation and fight for it.
However, Rangasamy refrained from explaining the reason for not participating in the meet. “I will tell you tomorrow,” was his reply when asked.
Since the UT could not oppose decisions taken by the Centre and had to toe the central government’s line, the Chief minister perhaps felt that there was no point in expressing his views.
In fact, Rangasamy had always been reluctant to participate in conferences convened by the Union. At the NDC meeting, he had left without reading his speech copy. Last November, Rangasamy, who holds the additional charge of the Health portfolio, did not participate in the State Health Minister’s conference convened by Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad.