Puducherry, Aug 1 (PTI) Senior Congress leader of Puducherry V Narayanasamy took strong exception to Lt Governor K Kailashnathan’s delay in approving the list submitted by Chief Minister N Rangasamy on allocation of portfolios to the five ministers inducted in May and June in the wake of the Assembly polls.
Addressing reporters at his residence here on Saturday, Narayanasamy said Rangasamy had submitted the list of portfolios to be earmarked to the five ministers — inducted in a phased manner in May and June following the April 9 Assembly polls — to the Lt Governor on July 20.
The AINRC-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition returned to power after the polls.
Rangasamy was first sworn in as Chief Minister on May 13.
BJP legislature party leader A Namassivayam and the AINRC legislator elected from Yanam (an enclave of Puducherry in Andhra Pradesh) were the first to be inducted as ministers in the Rangasamy-led AINRC-BJP ministry, also on May 13.
In the next phase, P Rajavelu and V P Sivakolundhu (both from AINRC) and G N S Rajasekaran (BJP), elected from Tirunallar in Karaikal, were inducted as ministers on June 17. However, none of the five new ministers was allocated portfolios, triggering criticism from the opposition.
The CM submitted the list of portfolios for these ministers to the Lt Governor on July 20, but no notification has been issued so far approving the recommendation.
“It is mind-boggling as to why the Lt Governor is keeping the list in cold storage without issuing the notification. This is a constitutional emergency. The Lt Governor has no authority to keep the list on hold. He should resign, as more than ten days have already passed since Rangasamy submitted the list,” Narayanasamy said.
A team of legislators belonging to the opposition Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam called on the Lt Governor on Friday, urging him to issue the notification.
Narayanasamy said the routine work of the administration has been affected, as people do not know which minister to approach to redress their grievances.
The CM currently looks after all the departments.
He claimed that Kailashnathan should quit over the “constitutional emergency” he has caused by delaying his approval of the list submitted by the CM recommending portfolios to his colleagues. PTI COR SSK
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