After several weeks of delay, the first NDA ministry in Puducherry was sworn in on Sunday as Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Tamilisai Soundararajan administered the oath of office to A Namassivayam and Sai Saravanan Kumar of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and K Lakshminarayanan, C Dijeacoumar and Chandira Priyanga of All India NR Congress (AINRC).
The ceremony took place at 2.30 pm at Raj Nivas amid tight security and pandemic restrictions. Like Tamil Nadu which has been referring to the Government of India as ‘onriyam arasu’ (Union government), a move that has resulted in several debates, the swearing-in in neighbouring Puducherry also adopted the nomenclature.
The portfolios of the ministers are yet to be announced. The cabinet formation was delayed by more than 50 days due to several factors after the AINRC-led NDA emerged victorious in the assembly elections.