Congress govt in Puducherry slips into minority as another lawmaker quits

Two ministers, A Namassivayam and E Theepaindan, earlier resigned in January and joined the BJP. Another Congress lawmaker, N Dhanavelu, was disqualified in July for anti-party activities

Puducherry’s V Narayanasamy-led Congress government is now in the minority as its strength has come down to 10 with the resignation of lawmaker A John Kumar on Tuesday. Kumar’s resignation came a day after health minister Malladi Krishna Rao put in his papers. He is the fourth Congress legislator to have quit over the last month. Kumar’s resignation came a day before Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s visit to the Union territory as part of preparations for the assembly polls in April-May this year.

Puducherry chief minister V Narayanasamy. (File photo)

Two ministers, A Namassivayam and E Theepaindan, earlier resigned in January and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Another Congress lawmaker, N Dhanavelu, was disqualified in July for anti-party activities. In the 2016 polls, Congress won 15 seats in the 30-assembly. It has the support of three Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam lawmakers and independent legislator N Ramachandran. The opposition All India NR Congress has seven seats and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam four. The BJP has three nominated members in the House.

The Congress has earlier lost power in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka after the resignations of its lawmakers.