Puducherry: CM Narayansamy Led Congress Govt Loses Majority In UT Assembly As One More MLA Resigns

With just 14 members remaining in the Puducherry Assembly after resignation of Congress MLA A John Kumar on Tuesday (16 February), the Chief Minister V Narayanasamy-led Congress government in the Union Territory has lost its majority in the House, reports Times of India.

After Kumar's resignation, the strength of the ruling Congress party has come down to 10 in the UT assembly. Kumar had won the Kamaraj Nagar byelection on Congress ticket in 2019.

It should be noted that the legislative assembly of Puducherry has 30 elected and three nominated seats. However, due to a number of resignations, the Assembly, which includes three nominated members, currently has 28 active MLAs.

Congress has support of three DMK MLAs and an independent MLA in the UT Assembly.

Meanwhile, the opposition has 14 seats in the Puducherry Assembly, of which the All India NR Congress has seven seats and AIADMK four. The assembly also has three BJP MLAs who were nominated as the members of the House by the Centre.

According to the report, two ministers - A Namassivayam and Malladi Krishna Rao - of the Congress government and two party MLAs - E Theeppainthan and John Kumar - have resigned so far. Meanwhile, Congress MLA N Dhanavelu was disqualified for indulging in anti-party activities.

Rao, who had already resigned from the ministerial post, quit MLA post on Monday (15 February).

With the latest development, the Congress party and its allies have just 14 seats in the Assembly, same as the opposition.