Puducherry
Congress to face floor test in Puducherry on Monday, announces Lt Guv Tamilisai Soundararajan
Puducherry/IBNS: The Congress government in Puducherry will face a floor test to prove its strength in the Assembly on Monday, Lieutenant Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan said on Thursday after assuming her charge as the head of the Union Territory.
She announced the floor test citing the opposition's stand that the ruling party no longer has a majority.
With both the government and the opposition short of numbers, Puducherry is likely headed for President's rule just three months before elections.
Soundararajan, who took charge as Lieutenant Governor on Wednesday after former IPS officer Kiran Bedi's sudden removal from the post, reportedly called Chief Minister V Narayanasamy for a meeting this afternoon and handed over a letter asking him to prove his majority.
According to reports, Soundararajan said a floor test was needed to confirm whether the Congress government still enjoys a majority amid letters from opposition parties suggesting otherwise.
The vote has to be completed by 5 pm on Monday.
In the 33-member Puducherry assembly, the ruling Congress had 15 members and, along with the DMK's three and one independent MLA, was just past the majority mark of 16.
After four Congress MLAs had quit, the government and the opposition are both at 14.
The Congress now has 10 MLAs, leaving the government one short of the majority mark, which is now at 15 with the assembly strength coming down to 28.
Elections are due in Puducherry by May.
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