On his first visit to the Karaikal enclave of the Union Territory after being named Congress party’s contestant for the Puducherry Lok Sabha constituency again, Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) V Narayanasamy on Friday claimed that he had played a pivotal role in the development of Karaikal and charged the Puducherry government with not cooperating with the Centre.
Addressing members of the Karaikal Lawyers Association on the district court premises to seek their support, the Union Minister said, “I cannot forget the commendable role played by Karaikal voters in electing me to Parliament in 2009. I took efforts and improved rail connectivity in Karaikal by linking it with major cities like Mumbai, and Bengaluru with Karaikal.”
Stating that a slew of welfare projects was established in Karaikal, Narayanasamy said the Centre had shown equal importance to Karaikal region by establishing several educational institutions including the National Institute of technology (NIT) at Karaikal at an estimated cost of `300 crore.
Expressing confidence that Karaikal voters would play a crucial role again by voting him to Parliament, he said, “I have rendered service to my level best for the welfare of the people in the Union Territory, including the recently-laid foundation stone for the Karaikal multi-specialty hospital. But, the ruling territorial government was cooperative with the Central government, just because we were an opposition in the Puducherry assembly.”