Rangasamy sworn in as Puducherry Chief Minister, BJP to be part of cabinet
Puducherry: AINRC leader N Rangasamy was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Puducherry at a brief ceremony held at the Raj Nivas here on Friday and will lead a coalition government of BJP members in his cabinet.
While Karnataka is the lone southern state with the BJP in the ruling saddle, its induction in the UT cabinet allows the saffron party expand its footprint, vis-a-vis power in the region.
Incidentally, it fared well in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, where it won four assembly seats in the Dravidian heartland in the April 6 polls.
Union Minister of State for Home and BJP leader Kishan Reddy, who attended the swearing-in ceremony today, told reporters that BJP and AINRC would have three ministers each and they would be sworn in over the next few days.
BJP's A Namassivayam, who was elected unanimously as the leader of the BJP legislature wing, is tipped to be deputy chief minister.
On Friday afternoon, Lt Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan administered the oath of office and secrecy to Rangasamy, giving him his fourth stint in office of CM.
Rangasamy, the only legislator to be sworn-in today, took the oath in Tamil and in the name of God.
The swearing in of the other ministers belonging to the AINRC and BJP would be held in the next few days, AINRC party sources said.
Of the three BJP members in the cabinet, one would be deputy CM.
A BJP source told PTI that Namassivayam would be Rangasamy's deputy, in the first such instance of the UT having a deputy CM.
Six Ministers are likely to be sworn in in the next couple of days and this would ultimately bring the strength of the Puducherry Ministry to seven, including Rangasamy.
AINRC won 10 seats and the BJP six in the 30-member house, giving them the simple majority to form government.
There are six independents elected to the House, who are by and large supporters of Rangasamy. The DMK emerged victorious from six segments of the 13 seats it contested.
The Congress fared poorly by annexing only two out of the 14 seats it contested. Earlier, Chief Secretary Ashwin Kumar read out the Presidential notification appointing Rangasamy as the Chief Minister.
The ceremony, which began at 1.20 PM, lasted five minutes.
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Will vacate one of two assembly seats won in 10 days: BJP''s Suvendu
Kolkata (PTI): BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, who defeated West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur and secured Nandigram for three times in a row in the recent assembly polls, said on Wednesday that he would vacate one of the two constituencies within 10 days.
Adhikari also asserted that the party's central leadership would decide which constituency he would retain.
"I will vacate one seat within 10 days. The party will decide which one I retain. I will not forget my responsibility towards the people of Bhabanipur and Nandigram," he said.
Adhikari on Monday defeated Banerjee in Bhabanipur by over 15,000 votes, puncturing what was long seen as her safest political refuge and delivering a decisive psychological blow to the TMC, amid a sweeping BJP surge across West Bengal.
Addressing party workers and supporters in Nandigram in Purba Medinipur district, the BJP leader appealed to them not to take out victory processions immediately and instead maintain peace.
"Do not take out victory rallies now. Maintain peace and discipline. Celebrate after May 9, after taking permission," he told party workers.
State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya on Wednesday announced that the oath-taking ceremony of the new government will be held on May 9 at Brigade Parade Ground.
Referring to alleged attacks on BJP workers during the TMC regime, Adhikari said he would not forget the “atrocities" faced by them and assured them of taking appropriate action against perpetrators through legal processes.
"I was part of the 2011 ‘poribartan’ (change), and now I am part of the real change. I offer my gratitude to the people of Nandigram," Adhikari said.
He was referring to the TMC's victory in 2011 when the Mamata Banerjee party dismantled the 34-year Left Front regime in the state.
Adhikari offered prayers at a Hanuman statue in Nandigram and remembered the BJP workers, who had died in political violence.
"We will work in such a way that the BJP government in Bengal stays for 100 years," he said, expressing hope that the BJP’s vote share in the state would rise from the current 46 per cent to 60 per cent in future elections.
The BJP leader also assured residents of Nandigram of improved drinking water supply and better hospital and education infrastructure.
