Puducherry Assembly Election | Decision not to have an individual competition based on various factors: v. Narayanasamy

Former Chief Minister of Puducherry V. In an interview with Narayanasamy HinduSays that his decision is not to contest elections The Assembly election on 6 April was a personal one and was taken in consultation with the Congress leadership. Edited excerpts:

You led the Congress government in Puducherry when your party was in trouble, ministers and legislators quit. But now you are not contesting elections. Will it not affect your party’s prospects?

Since the Congress came to power in 2016, the central government had tried to obstruct the functioning of the government by withholding funds for welfare and development works. Previous lieutenant governor [Kiran Bedi] Intervened in day-to-day administration and adopted the path of confrontation. At the end of my term, some [BJP] The leaders of Delhi and Bengaluru landed in Puducherry and toppled the government. They succeeded by killing democracy and using nominated legislators appointed by the Center. People are aware of these things.

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This is the State Congress Committee [PCC] He is contesting elections. The fact that I am not contesting the election will have no effect on the election. Even the National Democratic Alliance [NDA] Has not announced its chief ministerial candidate.

Was it a party decision or not your personal decision?

This was taken in consultation with my personal decision [party] High Command and other leaders. The decision was based on various factors. It is absolutely necessary that we go with election management. It was a collective decision. My service will be necessary in all the constituencies and I as a team member of Lok Sabha. Will campaign with Vaithilingam. We will campaign for the victory of the alliance. Our aim is to stop the BJP from coming to power.

The opposition alleges that you behaved more as a spokesperson of the Congress than the Chief Minister during your tenure. Your power struggle with Ms. Bedi and open criticism of the Center had hindered governance. Your comment?

During my tenure as Chief Minister, my government and my party, as the head of the government and as a Congress worker, had a dual responsibility of defense. It was my duty to criticize the Center if it was not acceptable to its people or public servants. I had to oppose the policies of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. An example of this would be the privatization of the Puducherry Electricity Department by the Center, which was opposed by our employees. I had to take a stand and I was standing with the staff. Personally, my relationship was very good for Ms. Bedi. But as the Lieutenant Governor, she was undemocratic and autocratic. The Center was completely helping them and ignoring the elected government. Therefore, I had no other option but to oppose the Centre’s negative attitude to the elected government. Our government was able to implement various projects with great difficulty.

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How do you assess the functioning of Lieutenant Governor Tamilisai Soundarajan?

Some of the decisions taken by Ms. Soundarajan proved that our fight with Ms. Bedi was genuine and true. We were fighting with Ms. Bedi for approval of cabinet decisions and welfare schemes. The Lt. Governor recently approved financial assistance for scheduled caste students, pending salaries of government-aided school teachers and the mid-day meal scheme. If she approves all other pending welfare schemes, I would appreciate Ms. Soundarajan.

You were personally involved in seat-sharing talks with DMK. Many of your party’s officials are unhappy that you have given more seats to the Dravidian party, although their strike rate in the last assembly election was lower than the Congress …

It is a fact that I participated in the seat-sharing talks. With DMK bargaining, we had no choice. This was a difficult decision taken by the Congress leadership. We know that our workers are unhappy. They are not ready for the canvass vote for the DMK, but we will convince them that the victory of the coalition is a requirement for the union territory. But the Congress is a major partner in the grand alliance.

Until recently, the BJP was almost a non-entity in the Union Territory. The party has suddenly become a contender. How do you think the BJP is so serious in capturing Puducherry?

They want to expand their party’s presence by engineering defaults to other parties and nominate those in the BJP using the Income Tax Department and the Enforcement Directorate. [as tools for intimidating opponents]. They want to come to power with the help of these agencies.

There have been voices within the Congress that want organizational change. Many leaders have joined the group of 23 dissidents (G-23), supporting or criticizing the move. You have avoided making any comments. Would you like to clarify now?

The people never rebelled against the leadership. What he did was to address his grievances, which is quite natural in every political party. Yes, of course, there is a demand for organizational restructuring and it is being done.