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Puducherry floor test: BJP trying to topple elected govt, says CM Narayanasamy
The chief minister, whose government is now said to be short of a majority, called this ‘an attempt to bury democracy’
Puducherry chief minister V Narayanasamy on Thursday accused the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of trying to topple his democratically elected government, as Lieutenant Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan ordered a floor test in the House by 5pm on February 22.
“Today I held a meeting with the MLAs and discussed the floor test. No decision has been taken in today’s meet. We will hold a meeting again on February 21. We are also consulting with our alliance partner DMK," news agency ANI quoted Narayanasamy as saying after the meeting.
"The BJP is behind all these things. They are all out to bring down a democratically elected government. This is an attempt to bury democracy," Narayanasamy further said.
Soundararajan issued orders for the floor test just hours after taking oath as the new Lieutenant Governor of the poll-bound Union territory, succeeding Kiran Bedi, whose tenure was marred with multiple spats with the chief minister.
The Congress-led Puducherry government has fallen into turmoil after four MLAs, including two ministers, resigned from their posts. This has brought down the party’s strength in the 30-member legislative assembly to ten, including the speaker, while its ally DMK has three representatives. The ruling alliance and the Opposition now have 14 members each in the House, just two short of the magic figure of 16.
In her orders, Soundararajan, who is also the Telangana governor, said that the government has been reduced to a minority and should prove its strength on the floor of the legislative assembly. The order further stated that the meeting shall be confined to a "single" agenda, "namely whether the government of the incumbent chief minister continues to enjoy the confidence of the House." Voting shall take place by show of hands and the entire proceedings be videographed, as per the official release.
